September 02, 2001
KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba again asked Maoists Sunday to eschew violence and said its continuance even after peace talks between the government and rebels last week was a “serious matter.”
“I ask the Maoists to stop such acts that will create an unfavourable atmosphere for future talks,” Deuba told parliament in a statement. “They are continuing extortions, abductions, threatening businesses, forcibly using public transport and forcing school closures despite assurances that such acts would stop,” the Prime Minister said.
“I am confident that the second round of talks will be fruitful after the first round of negotiations was cordial,” Deuba said. Government and Maoists agreed to a second round of talks in two weeks after the first phase of negotiations were held in the capital last week with an agreement to meet again.
The date and venue for the second phase of talks to end a communist insurgency that has claimed more than 1,800 lives in nearly six years have not been finalized as yet.