 One of the most senior ministers in the royal Nepalese government said on Friday that the government was ready for talks with Maoists to resolve the decade-old armed insurgency that has claimed over 12,000 lives. Vice-Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kirti Nidhi Bista told a group of civil society leaders that the government also agreed that dialogue was the only way to settle the armed conflict. He said, âThe government knows that the only way to settle the problem is not through guns but through dialogue.â
| And I thought the village defense teams were doing a bang-up job. |
He also told the civil society leaders to help the government by trying to bring the Maoists to the negotiating table. He added that King Gyanendra who seized all executive powers on February 1 was sincere in his commitment to returning the country to a multi-party democracy for which elections would be held. He appealed to them ânot to doubt King Gyanendraâs commitment to democracyâ.
Meanwhile, another group of civil society leaders held a mass meeting in the Nepalese capital Friday calling for the âimmediate restoration of democracyâ. With the top leaders of political parties sitting among the audience, the civil society leaders severely criticised them for their mistakes that brought about the present situation in the country. The political leaders listened silently to their criticisms. |