Nepal government intensifies efforts to bring rebels to peace talks

Kathmandu - The Nepalese government has intensified its efforts to bring some 21 armed rebel groups in southern Nepal together for talks aimed at ending two years of violence in the region, media reports said Tuesday. Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Janardan Sharma met leaders of five armed rebel groups in Saptari district, about 400 kilometres east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, on Monday, as part of efforts to bring them to formal negotiations, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported. The meeting was the second round of informal talks by a minister in the Maoist-led government with armed groups since the beginning of November. The newspaper said Bibas Birodh, leader of Madhes Rashtriya Janatantrik Party, was brought to Nepal from a neighbouring Indian town for the talks. The Madhes Rashtriya Janatantrik Party is a coalition of five small armed rebel groups that has been blamed for a series of murders, abductions and extortion cases in the region. 'This is the first phase of informal talks and was positive,' the newspaper quoted Birodh as saying. Sharma also met leaders of two other groups in the same district. But details of the talks have not been released to the press. Earlier this month, another minister met two armed groups hoping to persuade them to agree to accept a government invitation for talks. In October, the Nepalese government formally invited armed rebel groups in the southern Nepalese plains known as Terai for peace talks. The government says it has officially written to 11 of the 21 groups involved in the insurgency. Many of the armed groups have roots in the Maoist movement in Nepal, and split into minor groups after the Maoists signed a formal peace deal with the government in November 2006. The Nepalese government says the rebel groups are involved in extortion, kidnapping and murder of government employees and those opposing them across southern Nepal. Hundreds of people have died in the low-level insurgency since the beginning of 2007 and several attempts to bring the rebel groups for talks have failed.