FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2003
Nepal Maoists open to talks on monarchy's future
AP
KATHMANDU: A top Nepali Maoist leader said on Thursday the rebels would agree to keep the monarchy if people want it in what could mark a key breakthrough in ending a deadly seven-year insurgency.
Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a member of the Maoists' negotiating team, told Reuters in an interview "a communist republic is our ultimate goal".
But he said the Maoists, who agreed to a ceasefire in January with the government, were willing to discuss the future of the monarchy, a hugely popular institution in the poverty-racked nation.
"Let us go to the debate and talk about the monarchy," he said. "If the people accept the monarchy, there is no problem. If they reject it, it should go."
The Maoists see the peace talks as a prelude for an assembly to prepare a new constitution but want the army, ordered out by King Gyanendra to hunt them down in 2001, to return to barracks and for jailed Maoists to be released before discussions begin.
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