Nepal parties 'agree' last part of landmark peace deal

BBC News, 1 November 2011

NEPAL AT A CROSSROADS 

• Challenges facing new PM
• Deadlock reaches crisis point
• Uncertainty as UN mission ends
• High hopes for Himalayan road

The future of former Maoist insurgents has been one
of the biggest barriers to the peace process

Nepal's main political parties say they have agreed the last part of a landmark peace deal after years of wrangling.

A spokesman for the prime minister said the deal revolves around the future of about 19,000 former Maoist fighters.

About a third of them will be integrated into the security forces. The remainder will receive a pay-off.

The Maoists ended a long-running insurgency five years ago. Peace moves had stalled over the future of former rebel fighters and a new constitution.

All weapons held by the former fighters will now be surrendered to the state.

The BBC's Jill McGivering says that the end of the civil war raised hopes in Nepal - but since then many became increasingly disillusioned with successive political stalemates and resignations.

Current Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai is the fifth in the five years since the peace process started.

He is from the Maoist party and has been described by some as the country's last hope.

Despite the breakthrough with the country's two other main parties - the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML - many challenges still lie ahead.

One of the most pressing is the search to find consensus on drafting a new constitution, and that may mean yet another extension for the current Constituent Assembly.