Maoists in Nepal call truce as govt warns parties

Nepal's Maoists announced an indefinite ceasefire here and the surrounding valley on Monday in response to a call by political parties

Nepal’s Maoists announced an indefinite ceasefire here and the surrounding valley on Monday in response to a call by political parties, which have decided to go for a nationwide general strike in a ‘do-or-die’ spirit ignoring the government’s warning that it may have to go for curfew and ‘shoot to death’ orders.

Nepal’s seven main political parties have called a four-day nationwide strike from Thursday, to be followed by a protests and a big rally in Kathmandu on April 8, in a bid to pressure King Gyanendra to restore democracy and cede absolute power.

The ceasefire in the Kathmandu was aimed at “creating an easy atmosphere for the people to participate in the peaceful protest movement” against the king, said Maoist chief Prachanda.

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The government has vowed to halt the protests, saying Maoist rebels could infiltrate rallies and create unrest.

Warnings from the government were based on its ‘credible information’ that the Maoists, whom the government has branded ‘terrorists’, were likely to infiltrate the protest programmes and cause violence. “We are determined to foil any such possibility”, Union Home Minister Kamal Thapa said. He threatened to treat the alliance as ‘terrorists’ on the ground that the Maoists and the alliance had entered into an understanding on 12 different issues, including the end of ‘absolute monarchy’.

“I have met Prachanda a few times before arriving at the understanding. Let the government show the courage to brand me terrorist”, said former PM and Nepali Congress chief G P Koirala, the senior-most leader of the alliance.