TMCnet News
Annan calls on Nepalese rebels to extend cease-fire+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NEW YORK, Dec. 30_(Kyodo) _ U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday called on the Maoist rebels in Nepal to extend its four-month-old unilateral cease-fire after it expires on Jan. 2 and called on the Nepalese government to reciprocate the cease-fire, saying that he is "seriously concerned" that the fighting could escalate. In a statement, Annan said he "deeply regrets" that no progress appears to have been made toward a mutually agreed truce between the government and the rebel group, also known as the Communist Party of Nepal. "The people of Nepal have benefited from the de-escalation of violence in the last four months and they would bear the brunt of a renewal in fighting," Annan said, adding that the United Nations "stands ready to assist in the realization of this objective should the parties so desire." The Maoists are fighting an armed insurgency to topple monarchy in the Himalayan kingdom. More than 13,000 Nepalese have been killed in the internecine conflict that began in 1996. |