Nepal Rebels Offer Cease-Fire

The leader of Nepal's Maoist rebels offered a monthlong cease-fire in the six-year guerrilla war on Thursday, after a week of fierce fighting in which the government said hundreds of combatants have been killed.

The guerrillas, fighting since 1996 to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy and to redistribute land to the poor, withdrew from a western stronghold after overrunning it Tuesday night and killing at least 100 of the government's troops.

State-run radio said some 250 rebels were killed in the most intense fighting of the war at the remote village of Gam, where the rebellion began.

A statement by the rebel commander, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachand, was faxed to news media and government offices, saying a cease-fire could begin next Wednesday, but that the government must reciprocate.

The Maoists have twice declared truces in the past, and on both occasions resumed attacks on government targets. The last cease-fire was broken in November, after Maoist leaders held three rounds of peace talks with the government, then declared a stalemate and resumed fighting.

No comment was immediately available from the government, which says several hundred rebels died in a major offensive against their western strongholds in the past week.

During a visit by Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba this week, the United States pledged $20 million in military aid to help crush the six-year rebellion that has killed more than 4,000 people and wrecked the economy.

King Gyanendra responded with a state of emergency declaration that allowed wide powers of detention without trial and ordered the army for the first time to join the poorly equipped police in fighting the insurgents.

Nepalese newspapers reported last Thursday that they had received a statement from Prachand, offering to resume peace talks. The government had rejected that offer, saying the guerrillas must stop fighting.

The statement issued Thursday said: "We are offering a cease-fire for a month from May 15."

It added, however, "Even during the period of cease-fire, if the government does not stop the killings of the sons and daughters of the nation, the oppression and the anti-national acts, we will be compelled to launch an even more deadly and decisive war."

There was no immediate reaction from the government.

Government reports of the military campaign, including casualty figures, cannot be confirmed as journalists and human rights groups have no access to the war zone.

For six years, Gam was a stronghold of the rebels, but the village fell to the army two months ago.

Senior officers said that, according to a preliminary reconstruction of the Tuesday night battle, 500 Maoists swarmed the garrison in a surprise assault on Tuesday night. The rebels suffered heavy casualties as they advanced in the face of gunfire from the surrounded, outnumbered soldiers and police, the officers said.

The rebels slaughtered all the government troops, and communication links were broken, so the battle description came from local civilians and police, the army officers said.

Bad weather delayed the arrival of reinforcement troops by a day, and it was uncertain when the rebels withdrew, but they were gone Thursday and the fighting had ended, the officers said.

The guerrillas usually seize guns and ammunition after overrunning government positions, and take their own dead with them or bury them, making casualty counts difficult.

After fighting a bush war for five years with World War II-era rifles they robbed from police, the Maoists now have automatic rifles, rocket launchers and other army weapons.

The fighting in Gam began Tuesday night as Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and U.S. President George W. Bush met in Washington to discuss U.S. aid for Nepal. The Bush administration recently asked Congress for $20 million in non-combat assistance for Nepal.

Nepal wants helicopter gunships and other heavy weaponry to crush the rebels. For years, the Maoists have won support from villagers through fear — and also sympathy, because of the abject poverty, lingering feudal practices and caste discrimination in the Hindu kingdom.

The rebels, who admire the late Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have seen their popularity wane in large parts of the country after many civilians were killed in the fighting. Human rights groups have accused the rebels and the government of killing and torturing civilians and depriving them of their rights in the war that has taken more than 3,000 lives.