Nepal Celebrates Peace Deal With Rebels

Nepal's bloody, decade-long civil war officially ended today with a public holiday to celebrate a peace deal between Maoist guerrillas and an alliance of seven political parties.

The pact, which ends a war that has claimed 14,000 lives, will see the Maoist guerrillas lock up their weapons under supervision of the United Nations and subsumed into a national army. The transformation will see a new Maoist party contest elections.

Thousands took to the streets in rallies around the country. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda signed the accord late last night at a convention hall in the capital Kathmandu packed with cheering officials, dignitaries and foreign diplomats.

In Kathmandu's main parks and squares crowds gathered waving banners and chanting slogans in celebration. In April hundreds of thousands of Nepalis took to the streets and forced an end to a disastrous period of direct rule by King Gyanendra. The monarch is likely to be prosecuted for his role in suppressing the protests, when the army opened fire on demonstrators and left 19 dead.

The way is now clear for the Maoists to join the existing seven parties in an interim government, which is due to be formed on December 1. Under the terms of deal, the rebels will get 73 of the chamber’s 330 seats. The Nepali Congress will remain the biggest party with 85 seats, and the Maoists will share second place with the Communist party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist).

The rest of the seats will be held by other smaller parties. An assembly to write a new democratic constitution is due to be elected under UN supervision in June next year.

In the next few months Maoist fighters have agreed to be confined to UN cantonment sites, and the Nepalese army will return to its barracks. Prachanda told reporters this weekend that he expects the Nepalese army to be cut by half, with a corresponding downsizing of the rebel force. The remaining Maoist guerrillas would end up in the new Nepalese national army, which should be created in twelve months.

The Maoists, whose reign of terror in the countryside emptied villages of "class traitors" still have to face difficult questions over the "peoples war" they launched in 1996. Human rights groups have accused the rebels of continuing to recruit members in the countryside, including children.

Analysts also said the impending political settlement could still be upended by the manoeuvring of the royal court. "The king really has no way out so the options are either leave or end up in disgrace so his forces are working to sabotage the deal," said Professor SD Muni, executive director of the Delhis Observer Research Foundation.

Prof Muni said that there was still an "outside chance" of a royal coup. "The chances for the king improve the longer elections are put off. The next 12 months will be interesting times in Nepal."

Diplomats say a growing mood of republicanism in the country should make the palace think twice before attempting a putsch. The king seized control in February 2005, with apparent public support, claiming that politicians were corrupt and feckless.

The shift in public attitudes - the monarch was once regarded as a living god - has been dramatic. The political parties and the Maoists have moved swiftly to nationalise all royal property and the first big question the new constitution will have to answer is the fate of the monarchy.

Significantly, the US welcomed the deal, saying it hoped that it would place Nepal "on the path of lasting peace and democracy". In the past Washington has been perceived as the Maoists' fiercest critics.