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Kathmandu, Maoist rebels reach accord on arms

Ameet Dhakal

Agreement on surrendered weapons likely to be signed today

KATHMANDU: The Government of Nepal and Maoist rebels have reached a breakthrough on arms management and are expected to sign an agreement on Monday.

The two sides reached the agreement on Sunday afternoon after a meeting between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda.

According to the agreement, Maoist combatants will remain confined to cantonments in seven different places. The weapons of the combatants will be taken away and locked in storages in designated cantonments. The key of the locks will remain with the Maoist leadership. However, close circuit cameras will monitor the locks, which will also have a sensor device. The sensor device will blow a siren if any person enters the vicinity. A U.N. monitoring squad will be present at all cantonments.

Following the understanding on arms management, the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) and Maoist leaders have agreed to hold a meeting on Tuesday at 4 p.m. "The meeting will give a final shape to the agreements on both political and arms issues," said Suresh Chalise, the Prime Minister's advisor. The meeting will also decide the date for "summit talks" that will make public the agreements.

The Government and the Maoists have already readied a tentative agreement on political issues. According to the agreement, the fate of the monarchy will be decided by the first meeting of the constituent assembly. Both the sides have already agreed to conduct constituent assembly elections by mid-June next year. It has also been agreed that Nepali Congress and the Maoist (UML) will get 5 seats each in the interim cabinet that will be led by Mr. Koirala.

Reuters reports:

Peace talks between Maoist rebels and Nepal's interim government, formed soon after King Gyanendra handed power back to political parties in April, have hinged on the rebels' insistence that they would not disarm before next year's planned elections for the constituent assembly.

Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said Ian Martin, personal representative of the U.N. Secretary General joined Sunday's talks in Kathmandu.

Mahara's comments confirmed earlier media reports quoting Prachanda as telling party activists that the rebels would keep their weapons in temporary camps.

The Maoists, fighting Nepal's monarchy since 1996, and the multi-party Government formed after King Gyanendra relinquished power, agreed to a ceasefire and began peace talks in May.

The Government agreed to include the rebels in an interim cabinet to oversee elections for the constituent assembly, which would write a new constitution for Nepal.

The vote had long been a key rebel demand to end their decade-old insurgency in which more than 13,000 persons have died.

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