Find out combatants' wishes first: Maoists

KATHMANDU, May 18: The Maoists have stated that the number of their combatants to be integrated into state security forces could be fixed only after inquiring about the wishes of the combatants, who are currently living in the cantonments.

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal made the proposal during a meeting with top Nepali Congress leaders at Hotel Vaishali in the capital, Tuesday. "It is difficult to fix the number of combatants to be integrated into the security forces without finding out their wishes," said one leader who participated in the meeting. [break]

But the meeting ended inconclusively after the NC leaders - Sher Bahadur Deuba, Sushil Koirala and Ram Chandra Poudel - insisted that the number of combatants to be integrated into the security forces should be fixed prior to forming a national government.

The NC has been stating that some 3,000 Maoist combatants can be integrated into the state security forces.

The number of combatants to be integrated and the timeframe have been the most contentious issue at the moment in forming a national unity government.

"The talks ended inconclusively after the Maoists stuck to their stance not to abide by universal norms for integrating rebel forces into state forces," said NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel.

We would not support CA term extension until the prime minister resigns and the constitution is amended to adopt a consensus system: Dahal

The leaders also deliberated the issue of extending the Constituent Assembly (CA)´s term, but the Maoists insisted that Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal step down first, paving the way for a national unity government and that the political parties amend the interim constitution to replace the current majority system with the previous consensus system.

The Maoist party will hold a meeting of its top office bearers Wednesday to assess current political developments.

Likewise, on Tuesday morning, UML general secretary Ishwar Pokharel and Secretary Bishnu Paudel met Maoist Vice-Chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai. The UML leaders requested Bhattarai to form a taskforce to resolve the crisis through talks. While Bhattarai was flexible on forming the taskforce, he suggested that the issue should be resolved at a higher political level.

Immediately after that, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal and standing committee member Bharat Mohan Adhikari met Maoist Chairman Dahal and Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya at Dahal´s residence at Nayabazaar.

The leaders of both parties reiterated their respective stances. When Khanal requested Dahal to initiate dialogues in a package, the latter demanded the prior resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. The UML leaders asked the Maoists not to demand the prime minister´s resignation as a precondition.

The leaders also deliberated extension of the CA´s term. "We would not approve of a CA term extension under any condition until the prime minister resigns and the constitution is amended to adopt a consensus system," Adhikari quoted Dahal as saying.

The leaders did not hold talks on management of Maoist combatants after the Maoists set the prime minister´s resignation as a precondition. The Maoists also declined the proposal to form a taskforce for resolving contentious issues.