Nepal's royal-appointed government Thursday ruled out holding peace talks with Maoists unless they first lay down their arms and abandon violence. "I don't agree to sit across the negotiating table with the Maoists unless they lay down their arms and stop the violence," Senior Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers Tulsi Giri told reporters. He also criticised previous multi-party governments for welcoming rebel leaders who came for peace dialogue.
"The Maoists were accorded a heroic welcome and the prime minister shook hands and sat together with them at public functions but the rebels at the end suddenly backed out of the negotiating table," Giri said.
"In over the past one decade, none of the multi-party governments was able to stop the Maoists killing innocent villagers and expelling them from their native villages," he said.
"The army and the police were humiliated by the governments that failed to stop the rebels from committing heinous crimes," he said.
"If polite talks cannot resolve the Maoist problem, the solution to it should be sought by crushing them militarily," he said.
The Maoists are fighting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and establish a communist state in a violent insurgency which has claimed some 11,000 lives since 1996.
King Gyanendra dismissed the elected multi-party government on February 1, imposing emergency rule and vowing to tackle the increasingly bloody Maoist revolt.
Referring to the US, British and Indian condemnation of the king's power grab, Giri said they had not understood his reason for declaring emergency rule.
"The king's declaration of emergency is directed against the terrorists but not against democracy," he said.
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