| Reports
on Nepal's Civil War |
|
Nepal's
Civil War |
 |
June
2006
| Nepal
power sharing deal hailed |
|
An
agreement to bring Nepal's Maoist rebels into government and bring permanent
peace is being widely hailed as historic in the country.
On
Friday, the Nepalese government said it would dissolve parliament and set
up an interim government that would also include the Maoists.
It
followed landmark talks between the rebel's reclusive leader, Prachanda,
and Prime Minister GP Koirala.
Nepal's
10-year Maoist insurgency has left around 13,000 people dead.
 |
Full
story ... |
June
2006
| PLA
ready to obey orders of PM Koirala: Prabhaker |
|
In
what has come as an interesting revelation, a senior commander of the Maoist
armed forces has said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the CPN (Maoist)
stands ready to follow orders from Nepali Congress president and Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
Addressing
a huge mass meeting organized at the Open Air Theatre at Tundikhel in the
Nepali capital on Friday, Deputy Commander of the PLA, Comrade Prabhaker
alias Janardan Sharma, said the PLA was ready to follow orders of Nepali
Congress president and premier G P Koirala.
"People
have given Koirala a historic charge of making a new Nepal, said Prabhaker
adding, So, I urge him not to hesitate in taking bold steps." He did not
elaborate.
|
Full
story ... |
 |
PLA
ready to obey orders of PM Koirala: Prabhaker
(June
2006) - no link |
 |
June
2006
| Maoists
hold massive Nepal rally |
|
At
least 200,000 people have taken part in a Maoist rally in the Nepalese
capital, Kathmandu - the first there by the rebels for three years.
Streets
were hung with banners bearing communist slogans and posters of the Maoist
leader, Prachanda.
King
Gyanendra ended 14 months of absolute rule in April after weeks of pro-democracy
protests.
The
new multi-party government has been holding talks with the Maoists aimed
at ending the 10-year insurgency.
The
Maoists are demanding the dissolution of the government and elections to
a new constituent assembly.
Hundreds
of youths in T-shirts featuring the Maoist leader Prachanda kept the crowd
orderly.
Hundreds
of public transport vehicles were allegedly seized from villages around
central Nepal and people compelled to come.
|
Full
story ... |
May
2006
| Nepal
companies face Maoist 'tax' - Companies say Maoist trade unionists have
demanded a 'tax' |
|
Dozens
of companies in southern Nepal have suspended operations saying they cannot
cope with acts of financial extortion by Maoist rebels.
The
Maoists appear to be stepping up a campaign of forced donations despite
their declaration of a three-month ceasefire in the decade-long conflict.
Reports
say Dabur Nepal, one of the country's biggest companies, has had demands
from Maoist trade unionists.
The
rebels' trade union branch has denied demanding any money.
During
their earlier ceasefires the Maoists have had a track record of continuing
extortion and even recruitment to their ranks.
Now,
nearly a month into the new ceasefire, the trend seems to be continuing.
'Donations'
necessary
Reports
say Maoist trade unionists have demanded a tax equivalent of more than
$1m from one of the largest joint venture businesses in the country, Dabur
Nepal.
|
Full
story ... |
May
2006
| Up
close with Nepal's Maoists in Janakpur |
|
This
is how you get to meet the Maoist rebels here in the flat plains of southern
Nepal.
In
a town on the main east-west Mahendra highway, you arrange to meet two
young men on a motor-bike.
You
follow them, along the highway, then off the road onto a stony mud track
that meanders along a dried-up river bed.
After
20 minutes or so, you notice a handful of young men and women, in uniform,
walking casually along the side of the road.
They
have red flashes on the lapels of their shirts. They are Maoist guerrilla
fighters, and they look as if they have been walking for days.
Close
to victory?
We
get out of the car and follow a man who beckons us into the woods. We cross
a stream, balancing precariously on a tree-trunk that serves as a makeshift
bridge.
And
then, suddenly, we see them, in a clearing: 200 or more Maoist fighters,
men and women, lined up in ranks, each of them armed, drilling to barked
orders from their brigade commander.
For
the past 10 years, these fighters and their comrades - who are now thought
to number up to 20,000 - have been steadily gaining in strength.
They
control nearly 80% of the country, and now, after the dramatic pro-democracy
protests last month, they are perhaps closer to victory than ever before.
|
Full
story ... |
May
2006
| Nepal
rebels agree to peace talks |
|
Maoist
rebels in Nepal have welcomed a government ceasefire offer and said they
are ready to enter peace talks.
A
statement from rebel leader Prachanda called the indefinite truce a "positive
step". The rebels announced their own three-month ceasefire last week.
"We
hope that the peace talks will not fail this time," Prachanda said. Talks
broke down in 2001 and 2003.
More
than 13,000 people have been killed in Nepal since the rebels began their
fight for a republic in 1996.
|
Full
story ... |
|
