Nepal rebel chief will not join interim govt
Source: Reuters
(Adds new comments in paras 6-7) By Y.P. Rajesh NEW DELHI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist rebel chief Prachanda said on Saturday he and his deputy would not join an interim government that will include the insurgents. The rebels and the multi-party government of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala are expected to sign a peace deal on Tuesday which would pave the way for the Maoist army to disarm and the preparation of a new constitution. Under a timetable drawn up by the two sides, the rebels are expected to join an interim government by Dec. 1. "We have decided that we will not be a part of the interim government, mainly myself, Comrade Baburam Bhattarai and Comrade Badal," Prachanda said, referring to his number two Bhattarai and another senior Maoist leader. "But it has not been decided that we will not contest in the elections," he told a news conference on the sidelines of a leadership summit in the Indian capital. The interim government would not be able to achieve much and it was important for him and his senior leadership to remain outside it to be able to avoid "frustrations from building up in the masses", he told a discussion at a think-tank later. "To boost the morale of the people we have decided to stay out," Prachanda said. The polls will elect an assembly to draft the new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy, an institution the rebels have been fighting for a decade. Prachanda said he did not want to be president of a Nepali republic but if the people of his party and Nepal insisted, then he would not refuse the responsibility. IRE AGAINST WASHINGTON The rebel leader, who is making his first high-profile public visit to India, said the interim government would include other Maoist leaders while he and Bhattarai would travel across the Himalayan country to "mobilise the masses" for the election. "For the core leadership to join the government is secondary. To mobilise the masses for the elections of the constituent assembly is principle," said Prachanda. "We think that it will be more beneficial for the political aim." Koirala's government and the rebels were due to sign the peace deal earlier this week. The signing was delayed due to what Prachanda said were technical problems which were now being sorted out to allow the signing on Tuesday. The new assembly and constitution fulfil key demands of the Maoists who launched their revolt in 1996 and in which more than 13,000 people have died. In the run-up to the constituent assembly vote, Maoist fighters will be confined to camps with their weapons locked in containers under U.N. supervision, while the state army will also be confined to barracks. On Thursday, Prachanda told Reuters the rebels, who are observing a truce, believed in the peaceful transformation of their poor Himalayan nation but would not rule out a return to armed struggle. (Additional reporting by Kamil Zaheer)
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