Nepali gov't-guerrilla summit talks postponed indefinitely

The fourth sitting of the on- going summit peace talks between the ruling Nepali Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) government and the guerrillas at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's residence in Kathmandu formally began at around 5:30 pm Sunday but concluded within minutes without any agreement.

Earlier, talking to a leading news media group's website, eKantipur.com over the phone, senior Nepali Congress leader Arjun Narsingh KC said that no formal talks between the two sides could begin until 4:30 pm local time (1045 GMT), though leaders of all the eight parties had assembled at Koirala's residence.

KC said, "The leaders are holding bilateral and trilateral talks, but no formal talks have begun between the two sides."

According to the website, Koirala and guerrilla top leader Prachanda decided to put off the talks until further notice stating extensive exercise required.

The Prime Minister will hold discussions on the crucial issues with the parties in the days to come and will fix a date for the next session of talks, the report said.

In the last seven days, since the peace talks began last Sunday, the leaders of the eight parties had three sittings on Oct. 8, 10 and 12, but only reached a consensus on holding elections to Constituent Assembly by mid-June, 2007.

The other contentious issues such as position of the king, interim legislature, interim government, modalities of the Constituent Assembly polls and arms management are yet to be resolved.

The Constituent Assembly is an elected body, like parliament, of elected people's representatives to formulate the new constitution.

Source: Xinhua