Nepal dares to think of peace as rebel deal struck
Source: Reuters
(Adds government, Maoist quotes, foreign reaction) By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A midnight deal between Nepal's multi-party government and Maoist rebels to put guerrilla arms under U.N. supervision has raised hopes for lasting peace in a nation ravaged by years of conflict. The agreement put a smile on the face of many ordinary Nepalis, who have been forced to live with killings, abductions, fear and shortages as the decade-old war against the monarchy brutalised the poor Himalayan nation and wrecked its economy. "I still shiver from fear when I remember the days when the city used to turn into a ghost town due to rebel strikes," said Kumar Thapa, a Kathmandu taxi driver. "When I heard the news on radio the first things that came to my mind was relief," he said on Wednesday, hours after the two sides clinched the deal. "Peace at last" read a banner headline in the English daily, the Himalayan Times. But Maoist chief Prachanda and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala warned there was more work to be done and appealed for unity among the country's fractious political parties. "There are challenges to implement the agreement from reactionaries who want to see us fail," the 52-year-old Prachanda told reporters at a rare news conference. The bespectacled rebel chief said the Maoists were proud that 10 years of fighting, in which 13,000 people died, had delivered "historic change". Koirala said the peace was a "victory" for all Nepalis. "PEACE AT LAST" In May, the rebels and the government began peace talks after resuming a truce that collapsed in 2001 and then in 2003. But a dispute over disarming the rebel army had dogged progress. Tuesday's late night pact has now cleared a key hurdle for the guerrillas to join an interim government. An interim administration with the rebels will be set up before December 1. The rebels will be restricted to 28 camps where cameras will be used to monitor arms. The king -- whose right to rule the impoverished kingdom was at the heart of the Maoist fight -- will remain as an almost powerless figurehead until the fate of the monarchy is decided next year. Analysts welcomed the deal but said hurdles remained. "The main challenge is to maintain the unity in the ruling seven-party alliance to implement the deal because some of its constituents are not fully behind the pact," defence analyst Indrajit Rai told Reuters. Diplomats and human rights groups have criticised the rebels for continuing extortions, intimidation and kidnappings despite a truce, and the Annapurna Post asked them to change their ways. "It is time for the Maoists to show more responsibility and accountability to implement the accord in letter and spirit," it said in an editorial. The United States echoed those words. "The agreement must diminish the fear of violence, intimidation, and extortion that the people of Nepal have endured over the past 11 years," its embassy said in a statement. "Effective monitoring that includes penalties for violators will prove essential." The conflict, which began in 1996, has hit tourism in Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest, and the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and badly damaged an already weak economy. But no tourist has been killed.
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