Nepal Maoist declare three-month ceasefire

KATHMANDU: Nepal's Maoist rebels declared a three-month ceasefire from Thursday and political parties forming a new government promised to work with them, raising hopes of an end to the decade-old conflict.

"Our People's Liberation Army will not carry out any offensive military action during this period and will remain defensive," rebel chief Prachanda said in a statement.

Just earlier this week, the Himalayan kingdom was paralysed by sweeping anti-monarchy protests by hundreds of thousands of people and there was no end in sight from years of Maoist insurgency in which more than 13,000 have been killed.

"The fires, stones and trouble were part of the movement," said Mira Joshi, a housewife who was among tens of thousands of people attending a noisy but peaceful mass rally in the centre of the capital Kathmandu.

"But without that it wouldn't be quiet now... It is quiet and this has raised hope and confidence for permanent peace."

King Gyanendra caved in to the pro-democracy movement on Monday, reconvening the country's dissolved parliament.

Mainstream political parties were invited to form the government and they promised to hold elections for a special assembly to write a new constitution, reflecting Maoist demands.

The rebels, after initially announcing a blockade of Kathmandu and district capitals, called off the move. The declaration of a unilateral ceasefire was the icing on the cake.

"This is people power," said Gagan Thapa, a youth leader of the Nepali Congress, the largest political party. "The people are putting pressure on the Maoists to leave violent means and on the political parties not to repeat their past mistakes. The people who came on the streets were neither Maoists nor members of any political parties. They are just common people who have faith in democratic values."

But possible hitches were already in evidence.

Senior Maoist leader Comrade Sunil said the rebels would not surrender arms ahead of elections to a constituent assembly, as parliament is likely to demand, but rather "set them aside".

"We have asked international organisations and institutions, reliable ones, to monitor the ceasefire and that weapons are not being used," he said in an interview in southern Nepal.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister-designate Girija Prsad Koirala did not appear at the rally in Kathmandu, citing ill health. Angry participants said the 84-year-old should have attended and reassured people of the plan to hold constituent assembly elections.

The Maoist demand for an unconditional constituent assembly means it should have the power to strip the king of his title and establish a republic.

But an assembly on those terms is not something the king would be happy with, and could use the Supreme Court, dominated by royal appointees, to block it.

A senior political leader welcomed the Maoist ceasefire, and said the incoming government would likely join the truce.    "They (Maoists) have taken the initiative to take the credit of showing themselves as initiators of peace," said Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), the second-largest in the main seven-party alliance.

He expected the government to announce a ceasefire of its own, release Maoist prisoners, withdraw international arrest warrants for its top leaders and invite them for talks.

The Maoists had initially called the king's deal with the political parties a sham.

"We want to make it clear that if the first meeting of the parliament does not take a positive decision on the declaration of an unconditional constituent assembly, we will be compelled to reimpose the blockade," Prachanda said in an earlier statement.