KATHMANDU, Nepal, June 2 (UPI) -- Nepalese Maoists have accused the government of rescinding promises, saying it is pushing the country back into conflict.
According to The Indian Express newspaper Friday, chief Maoist negotiator Krishna Bahadur Mahara alleged the government was planning to revive the local council bodies whose terms had expired.
"The government was trying to drag the country into conflict again through its intention to revive the dissolved local councils," Mahara told a press conference.
He voiced displeasure over the recent mobilization of the army by the government in different parts of Kathmandu and alleged it violated the 25-point peace agreement recently reached between the Maoists and the ruling Seven-Party Alliance.
The Maoist leader warned such developments might overshadow the broader issue of constituent assembly elections.
The Maoists agreed to join forces with the Seven-Party Alliance to overthrow King Gyanendra after the alliance agreed to hold elections to the constituent assembly and asked the army to return to barracks.
The reinstated Nepalese parliament also passed a decree wresting the king of all his powers and vowing to hold elections to the constituent assembly. As part of the confidence-building measures, the government took control of the army and renamed it the Nepalese army -- from the Royal Nepalese Army -- and ordered soldiers to return to barracks.
"We have also asked the People's Army (of armed rebel cadres) not to carry arms during public programs," Mahara said.
The rebels insisted the government should not delay in freeing political prisoners and making public the whereabouts of Maoist cadres who went missing after being detained by security forces.
