Nepal's former rebel leader warns of armed revolt: report

Mon Nov 26, 12:34 AM ET

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepal's former rebel leader Prachanda has threatened to take up arms again if his demand for immediate abolition of the monarchy is not met, state media reported. Prachanda and the Maoists have been wrangling with mainstream political parties over their demands for the impoverished Himalayan nation to be immediately declared a republic. The Maoists formally ended their decade-long insurgency that claimed over 13,000 lives after striking a landmark peace deal in November last year. The ultra leftists joined hands with the political parties after weeks of massive pro-democracy protests forced King Gyanendra to end his 14 months of direct rule in April 2006.

"We hoped that following 10 years of the people's war and 19-day people's movement (the pro-democracy protests) we should not fight anymore. However, we will be compelled to do so in case the parties in government and its head fail to understand this," the Rising Nepal quoted Prachanda as saying on Sunday. He was addressing the Maoists' People's Liberation Army at one of the UN monitored cantonments in Chitwan, 70 kilometres (44 miles) southwest of Kathmandu on Saturday. As part of the peace deal, the former rebel fighters and their weapons have been confined to UN monitored camps at 28 locations across the country. He said that they were in favour of peaceful protests but "could fight for decades if the situation necessitated such a fight," the newspaper said.

Under the deal, the Maoists had earlier agreed to decide the fate of the monarchy through constituent assembly elections. But polls for the assembly have already been postponed twice due to wrangling between political parties and the former rebels. The Maoists now want the country, one of the world's poorest, to be declared a republic immediately. They are also demanding full proportional voting contrary to a mixed first-past-the-post and proportional representation system previously agreed. The dispute between the Maoists and the mainstream parties led the former rebels to quit the government in September throwing the peace process is doubt.

Source: Yahoo News, November 26, 2007