NEPAL: Nepal's new multi-party government frees two senior Maoist rebel leaders from jail

Record ID: 858169

  • Title: NEPAL: Nepal's new multi-party government frees two senior Maoist rebel leaders from jail
  • Date: 12th May 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS RELEASED REBELS BEING SURROUNDED BY CROWD (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 27th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nepal
  • City:
  • Country: Nepal
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAC5RNJR5X48DZK145TJOFIM982
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Nepal's new multi-party government freed two senior Maoist rebel leaders from jail on Thursday (May 11), ahead of planned talks between the two sides aimed at ending a decade-old insurgency, officials said.
    Matrika Yadav and Suresh Ale Magar were freed from a jail on the outskirts of Kathmandu after the government dropped murder charges against them, they said.
    The two rebel leaders, wearing marigold garlands and with vermillion powder on their forehead, raised their fists in the Maoist salute as they stepped out of the high-security prison.
    "Long live CPN(M)," they shouted in Nepali, referring to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the official name of the Maoists, as some 100 people who had gathered outside the jail looked on.
    The two Maoists were detained in 2004 and were being held in prison awaiting trial.
    THey said they had agreed to be released on the orders of their "Supremo", though they would refuse to negotiate until other rebels were also released
    Police said the rebels set free five policemen who were seized on Tuesday from western Nepal. The move came amid media reports that the rebels had formed a three-member panel headed by spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara to initiate a dialogue with the government to try and end the revolt which has killed more than 13,000 people.
    The Maoists could not be reached to confirm the reports.
    Analysts said the rebels may have named a junior team to hold preliminary talks.
    Mahara had led the rebels in failed talks with the government in 2001. In 2003, Baburam Bhattarai, a more senior leader, had negotiated on behalf of the insurgents.
    Nepal's new multi-party government earlier this month matched a Maoist truce and called the rebels for talks to which the guerrillas agreed. No date for the meeting has been fixed.
    The Maoists are pressing the new government to release hundreds of jailed rebel leaders or members in Nepal and in neighbouring India ahead of the talks.
    The nation's seven mainstream political parties and the Maoist rebels entered into a loose deal in November against King Gyanendra who bowed to popular protests last month and handed power back to political parties.
    Officials said a panel had begun investigating the "excessive use of force" by the royalist government during the anti-king protests in which at least 17 people were killed and thousands wounded.
    The government and the rebels are now preparing for elections to an assembly to write a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy.
    The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to set up one-party communist rule in the Himalayan kingdom. But they now say they will accept the outcome of the election to the special assembly.
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