Just three days ahead of the general strike and rallies planned by the Seven Party Alliance focusing in the Nepali capital, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has announced that it will observe unilateral ceasefire within the Kathmandu valley with effect from Monday evening until further notice.

In a statement issued on Monday, chairman of CPN (Maoist), Prachanda, said his party had taken the decision “to cease all of its military activities” in the capital valley keeping in view the requests made by the alliance and civil society groups and also to expose claims by the royal government that the Maoists were planning to infiltrate into the protest programmes organized by the SPA.

In his statement sent over e-mail, Prachanda alias Pushpa Kamal Dahal said his party would extend its “full support” to the programmes of general strike, rallies and non-cooperation announced by the SPA this week (April 6-9) as per the spirit of the second memorandum of understanding entered between his party and the SPA last month.

Prachanda also appealed to people from all walks of life to come out in the streets to rally behind the pro-democracy movement. He also alleged that the royal government was conspiring to what he called unleash “state terror” against the peaceful movement being launched by the opposition parties against the 14-month-old direct rule of the king.

The opposition alliance has said it will continue its agitation until the monarch gives up his absolute powers.

There has been no comment from the Nepali government as yet regarding the latest announcement of ceasefire by the CPN (Maoist).

Talking to early morning talk show over Image F. M. on Sunday, spokesman of the government and Minister of State for Information and Communications, Shris Shumsher Rana, said he had also heard of possible unilateral ceasefire from the Maoists. “But the government is not going to fall in their trap. We have seen in the past that they used their unilateral ceasefire to regroup and rearm their cadres,” he said.

The rebels withdrew their four-month-long unilateral ceasefire in January this year alleging the government of not reciprocating to their gesture.

Over 13,000 Nepalis have lost their lives in the decade-old Maoist insurgency. nepalnews.com by Apr 03 06