An all party meeting convened by Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand got underway Sunday morning with the participation of parties in government and without five opposition in the dissolved parliament.
Government will expand the one-man negotiating team of Chief Coordinator and Minister for Physical Planning Narayan Singh Pun after the third round of all party talks even without the participation of the five parties, PM Chand said.
The CPN-UML is sponsoring a separate four party meeting of the dissolved parliament Sunday afternoon without the participation of Nepali Congress (Deuba). Maoists and Government are expected to hold informal talks Sunday to begin stalled peace talks.
Krishna Dhoj Khadka and his wife, Rekha Sharma, both central committee members, are to be released from detention in Gorkha Sunday after a government decision to free the couple to create as atmosphere for talks on rebel demands; their release also coincides with the news of the death of Khadka’s father in Pyuthan Saturday.
Three other central committee members continue to be detained. They are: Rabindra Shrestha, Muma Ram Khanal and Bam Deb Chetri. The insurgents have taken the government decision to release the prisoners as positive developments and pressed for the release of the others.
The release of the husband and wife was to coincide with the launch of the third all party talks to appoint a government peace negotiating team. Maoists set two pre-conditions for beginning peace negotiations: withdrawal of five detained central committee members and the withdrawal of criminal cases against senior Maoist leaders, including Chief Negotiator Dr, Baburam Bhattarai at Patan Appellate Court.
The talks, it appears, are now beginning to make some headway after a historic agreement to suspend hostilities on January 29 to negotiate a peace. Col. Pun, in desperation, has alleged his colleagues, without naming them, were hindering the peace process. nepalnews.com br April 13