Maoists' ceasefire to end tomorrow; likely to be extended
As the three-month-long unilateral ceasefire announced by the CPN (Maoist) is to expire on Friday, a senior Maoist leader has said it is likely to be extended.
Talking to Nepalnews today, Dina Nath Sharma, one of the members of the Maoist talks team, said that they are discussing about the ceasefire and would shortly announce the extension of it. He however did not mention the timeframe for the announcement.
The Maoists announced a three-month long ceasefire following the reinstatement of the House of Representatives by the King as per the roadmap of the seven political parties.
The Maoists had announced a similar truce in September last year and later extended it by a month, but later withdrew it as the royal government did not respond the rebels’ call.
The government and the Maoists are holding talks to find peaceful outlet of the Maoist insurgency. Talks teams of both sides held two round of talks, while senior leaders of the ruling seven party alliance and Maoists have held one high level talks and are mulling to hold another round of talks shortly.
The rebels and the ruling seven party alliance have signed a ceasefire code of conduct and also reached to an 8-point agreement to give peaceful outlet of the Maoist insurgency by holding the election of the constituent assembly.
A committee led by former Justice of the Supreme Court Laxman Prasad Aryal is drafting a new interim constitution to include the Maoists in it to go for the election of the constituent assembly.
Meanwhile, three members of the ‘high-level’ team of the United Nations (UN) arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday to assess what needs to be done to accelerate the peace process. The head of the UN team, Staffan de Mistura, will arrive in Kathmandu Thursday afternoon. nepalnews.com pb July 27 06
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