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| India-Pakistan |
| Nepal govt, rebels sign peace deal |
| 2006-11-22 |
| KATHMANDU: Nepal’s multi-party government and Maoist rebels signed a landmark peace accord on Tuesday that declared a formal end to a decade-old civil war that has killed more than 13,000 people. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda signed the deal, which comes seven months after King Gyanendra surrendered power to political parties following weeks of often violent street protests. “The accord puts an end to the long conflict,” Nepal’s interior minister and chief government negotiator Krishna Prasad Sitaula said after reading the text of the agreement. The deal paves the way for the insurgents to be separated from their arms and confined to UN-monitored camps in the run-up to elections for an assembly that will draft a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy. It also clears the way for the insurgents to join an interim government that will oversee the elections, and for the rebels to take seats with elected politicians in an interim parliament. |
| Posted by:Fred |