The major three parties Monday urged the protesting groups of far western region to immediately call off their bandh (shutdown strike) and opt for talks on their demands.

A meeting of the top leaders of the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and UML held at the UML parliamentary party concluded that the bandh has caused unprecedented trouble to the ordinary people, emphasising that demands of the protesting groups for "undivided far west" need to be discussed at the negotiating table.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai said at the meeting that the government was ready for talks with the protesting groups.

The three-party decision came as the bandh in the far-western region entered 11th day., bringing normal life to a grinding halt. The top leaders of the three parties had made similar call to the protesters on Saturday but the bandh has continued.

Even flights to Dhangadhi's Geta airport remain cancelled for days with the protesters placing locks at the entrance of the airport.

While 22 lawmakers from the region, mostly of them representing the ethnic communities, have opposed the demand for '"undivided far-west", a number of prominent leaders including Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress, Bhim Rawal of UML and Lekh Raj Bhatta of the UCPN (M) have supported the demand. nepalnews.com