BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nepal's Prime Minister calls for peace talks with Maoists

Last Updated: Thursday, 23 September, 2004, 09:38 GMT 10:38 UK

The Nepalese prime minister has made a fresh appeal to Maoist rebels to join talks to end their insurgency.

The Maoists have been engaged in an armed struggle since 1996 to replace the monarchy with a communist republic.

Peace talks have failed in the past after the rebels demanded a assembly to draw up a new constitution to clear the way for a republican government.

Nepal is facing a deepening crisis after increased rebel violence in the past month.

'Discreet' talks

"We have decided to officially call the Maoists for talks. Talks will be held secretly and with adequate homework," Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba told reporters late on Wednesday.

There was no immediate reaction from the rebels, who have walked out of two sets of peace talks in the past.

In recent months, the rebels have said that talks can be held only if King Gyanendra takes part and there is "credible" international mediation.

"A lot of homework has been done and enough study made before the government renewed its invitation for talks," Information Minister Mohammed Mohsin told Reuters news agency.

He said one of the reasons that the talks had failed in the past was because they had been held in the glare of publicity.

"It will be a discreet thing," Mr Mohsin said.

Some analysts have expressed doubts over the chances of the Maoists accepting the talks invite.

"I don't think they will come on the basis of a mere call for talks," said Padma Ratna Tuladhar, a human rights activist who has mediated previous meetings between the two sides.

Mr Tuladhar told the BBC that the rebels had agreed to come to the meeting table in the past only after receiving a written invitation.

He said the government may have to stop calling the rebels "terrorists" and announce a ceasefire before they agree to the talks. The government has rejected these demands in the past.

Successive governments have been defending the present constitution, in which the constitutional monarchy and multi-party parliamentary democratic system are integral parts.

The upsurge in violence has hurt Nepal's economy and deepened political instability.

National elections have been suspended for two years.

Last month, the capital, Kathmandu, was disrupted for days when the Maoists blockaded the major highways leading into the city.

Violence has risen to an unprecedented scale since talks broke down last year, raising the number of people killed in the eight year insurgency to more than 9,000.
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