Nepal's Communists Declare Cease-Fire

Nepal's communist rebels, who backed the opposition protests that forced King Gyanendra to restore parliament, declared a three-month, unilateral cease-fire Thursday in their violent campaign against the monarchist government.

The announcement came a day before the reinstated parliament convenes in Katmandu. It is expected to elect a new prime minister and initiate the process for electing a special assembly that would write a new constitution.

"We declare a unilateral cease-fire for three months," the elusive rebel leader Prachanda said in a statement. He said the rebels would hold their fire "to express deep commitment to people's desire for peace."

The rebel decision follows a meeting between Prachanda and Girija Prasad Koirala, who is likely to be named prime minister. Their talk cleared up misunderstanding between the alliance of seven opposition parties and the rebels.

The rebels initially had been angered by the alliance's acceptance of Gyanendra's offer to hand over power and reinstate parliament that would form a new government, saying it was a betrayal of an understanding between the alliance and the rebels.

The Maoist insurgents had backed the opposition's nearly three-week campaign of protests against the royal dictatorship.

However, the politicians called off the demonstrations Tuesday after the king agreed to hand power back to elected officials and apologized for the 15 people killed by security forces during the unrest.

On Wednesday, the rebels lifted a weeks-long blockade of highways connecting the major towns and cities in the Himalayan kingdom. The blockade had cut off major transport routes, including the nation's key highway between Katmandu, the capital, and the resort town of Pokhara, witnesses said.

Also Wednesday, soldiers opened fire on a crowd of thousands of villagers angry about the death of a local woman at an army base in southwestern Nepal, killing six and wounding at least 11, officials said.

Versions why the shooting occurred differed dramatically.

Both the military and rights activists agree that thousands of angry civilians marched on the camp in the village of Belbari, angry about the woman's death there the night before.

But while Bhupendra Poudel, the defense ministry spokesman, said the crowd tore down the camp's barbed wire, sought to snatch solders' guns and tried to storm the small base, Kunjan Aryal of the rights group INSEC-Nepal said the villagers were protesting peacefully.

"They were not trying to storm in," he said. "They were simply protesting."

Poudel also said the woman — a suspected Maoist — had been shot when she tried to slip into the base. Aryal, though, said the villagers believed the woman had been raped and killed by the soldiers.

Poudel said 11 villagers had been injured, while Aryal put the total at 29.

The rebels declared a ceasefire in September 2005 that lasted for four months. They pulled out earlier this year accusing the royalist government of failing to show initiatives to resolve conflict peacefully. The rebels then escalated attacks against government targets and troops.

The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, began their campaign to replace the monarchy with a communist state in 1996. The insurgency has left more than 13,000 dead.

The parties called off their protest campaign Tuesday after Gyanendra agreed to hand power back to elected officials and reinstate Parliament by Friday.

Norway, meanwhile, which suspended aid to Nepal after Gyanendra seized power 14 months ago, said late Tuesday it would resume its financial assistance because Parliament had been reinstated.

In Washington, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said the United States will consider renewing military aid to Nepal, but the move will depend on the army supporting the return of multiparty democracy.

Gyanendra seized power in February 2005, saying he needed to restore political order and crush the insurgency.