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Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

Maoist rebels have been involved in the peace process with the interim government to end the decade-long armed conflict in Nepal

KATHMANDU, 19 September 2006 (IRIN) - Maoist rebel leaders and Nepal’s seven-party interim government will hold talks within 10 days in an effort to rekindle the faltering peace process, designed to end a decade-long conflict in the Himalayan country.

Over the past five months, the Maoists and the seven parties have been actively engaged in the peace process following the end of the absolute rule of the Nepalese monarch, King Gyanendra, after a mass uprising in April.

However, concerns are rising on both sides about a growing mistrust between them and the lack of effective progress on ending violent in the kingdom, according to members of the negotiating teams.

“This time the talks will come up with clear decisions and remove all the obstacles in our way,” said home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who is also the coordinator of the government talks team.

Sitaula told reporters on Sunday that decisions would be made on key issues such as arms management, framing an interim constitution to replace the existing one and forming a new interim government to include the Maoists.

So far, the Maoists have failed to agree to government demands to disarm their People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Similarly, the seven parties have also refused Maoist demands to dissolve the existing parliament, which does not currently include Maoist representatives.

In a bid to bring both sides together, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and rebel chief Prachanda agreed on resolving all the political problems to allow the peace process to carry on, the home minister said.

“The meeting between the prime minister and Prachanda was significant in enabling the peace process to go forward,” said Ian Martin, Personal Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Nepal.

Martin, who previously headed the UN Office of High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal, was recently appointed in his new position to lead the UN mission to support in the peace process in the Himalayan kingdom in response to the joint request by the Maoists and the interim government.

Although the UN will not be directly involved in the negotiations between the two sides, the body will play an advisory role through the help of its military, ceasefire and monitoring experts who are expected to arrive soon, Martin said. “Such a [top level] meeting was a positive signal to remove mistrust and suspicion between both sides,” he added.

For the last 10 years, the Maoists had been waging an armed rebellion against the state with demands for a new constitution and a communist republic. The violent clashes between the two sides have cost the lives of nearly 14,000 people, including over 400 children at the hands of both the rebels and state armed forces, according to local human rights group Insec.

NN/JL/AT