Katmandu, Nepal – Communist rebels who backed protests that forced King Gyanendra to restore parliament declared a three-month, unilateral cease-fire today in their violent campaign against the monarchist government.
The announcement came a day before the reinstated parliament convenes in Katmandu.
It is expected to elect a prime minister and initiate the process for electing a special assembly that would write a constitution.
“We declare a unilateral cease-fire for three months,” rebel leader Prachanda said in a statement. He said the rebels “express deep commitment to people’s desire for peace.”
The rebel decision follows a meeting between Prachanda and Girija Prasad Koirala, likely to be named prime minister.
Their talk cleared up misunderstanding between the alliance of seven opposition parties and the rebels.
The rebels had been angered by the alliance’s acceptance of Gyanendra’s offer to hand over power and reinstate parliament, saying it was a betrayal of an understanding between the alliance and the rebels.
The insurgents had backed the opposition’s nearly three-week campaign of protests against the royal dictatorship.
However, the politicians called off the demonstrations Tuesday after the king agreed to hand power back to elected officials and apologized for the 15 people killed by security forces during the unrest.
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Mao Tse-tung, began their campaign to replace the monarchy with a communist state in 1996. The insurgency has left more than 13,000 dead.
On Wednesday, the rebels lifted a weeks-long blockade of highways connecting the major towns and cities in the Himalayan kingdom. The blockade had cut off major transport routes, including the key highway between Katmandu, the capital, and the resort town of Pokhara, witnesses said.
Also Wednesday, soldiers opened fire on a crowd of thousands of villagers angry about the death of a local woman at an army base in southwestern Nepal, killing six and wounding at least 11, officials said. Versions of how the shooting occurred differed dramatically.
Bhupendra Poudel, the defense ministry spokesman, said the crowd tore down the camp’s barbed wire, sought to snatch solders’ guns and tried to storm the small base, Kunjan Aryal of the rights group INSEC-Nepal said the villagers were protesting peacefully.
