Nepali parties to talk with Maoists

Nepal's main political parties will hold talks with Maoists on forming a broad front against King Gyanendra provided the rebels keep to their promise to stop killing civilians, senior party officials said yesterday.

"We have decided to set up a committee representing the seven (main political) parties which will take the initiative to hold a dialogue with Maoists," Laxman Ghimire, a member of the central committee of the main Nepali Congress party, told AFP.

"But we have yet to decide the date, we have yet to decide the venue (for the talks)," he said, adding that the seven members of the committee had still to be approved by the political parties.

Gopal Man Shrestha, chief of Nepal's third largest party, the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, told AFP that rights groups and activists would be asked to monitor whether the rebels had ended their attacks on civilians before any dialogue is held.

The decision by the seven parties came after Maoist leader Prachanda agreed last month to key conditions set by them.

Prachanda promised that the rebels would not target unarmed civilians and would stop extortion and he urged the parties to name negotiators for talks on a united campaign against the king.

"The parties will set up a team for meeting the Maoists in due course," Gopal Man Shrestha, chief of the third biggest group, the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, told Reuters.

Shrestha was speaking on behalf of the seven parties which held talks among themselves late on Monday and agreed to discuss joining hands with the rebels to restore democracy. Gyanendra dismissed the government in February and took absolute power.

The parties declined to say when talks with the Maoists could take place.

There was no immediate comment from the royalist government or the palace. In the past, the government has warned the parties not to move closer to the rebels whom it calls "terrorists".

"The Maoists have made some positive gestures. We'll first set up a panel of distinguished citizens to monitor whether those promises were translated into practice or not," Shrestha said, referring to Prachanda's offer.

Meanwhile, a land mine planted by suspected communist rebels killed at least four police officers and injured three others in southern Nepal on Monday, authorities said.

Police were on their way to a nearby college to provide security when their vehicle struck the mine near Maniram village in Rupandehi district, about 200km southwest of the capital, Katmandu. Reinforcements were searching for the attackers.