KATHMANDU, May 9 Kyodo The direct...

KATHMANDU, May 9 Kyodo

The direction and Maoist rebels on Friday conclud their inferior round of peace talks aimed at ending a communist insurgency facing the Himalayan kingdom.

Emerging from the negotiations, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a spokesman of the rebel team, said the pair sides decided on a hardly any confidence-building measures that would go on foot a long way to ensuring succes in the talks.

A 13-member follow-up team was named to monitor the collection of laws of conduct for talks the sum of two units sides had agreed to earlier, he said.

Responding to a rebel demand that the direction return the army to the barracks, the management agreed to confine the army to a 5-kilometer perimeter from the barracks, he said.

The conduct also agreed to release from detention three senior Maoist cadres in three days.

The rebel side not absented a list of 322 insurgents said to be missing in the course of the army crackdown.

The rebels are demanding that the status or whereabouts of the missing men be made public.

The regulation also assured the rebels that it would consider their demand to scrap a harsh law that gives command officials sweeping powers to arrest and detain clan on charges of destructive and terrorist activities.

As to the political proposal at handed by the rebels during the first-round negotiations onward April 27, the government said it was seriously studying them.

''It may take about time for us to arise with the replies,'' direction team spokesman Narayan Singh play upon words said.

Mahara said he was satisfied with the government's position of studying the rebels' political proposals.

legate Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal l the conduct team, while the rebel team was headed on Baburam Bhattarai, a rebel leader.

The pair sides will be meeting again for a third-round negotiation at a date to be decided later.

The Maoist rebels have been fighting for seven years to establish a communist republic in Nepal, and are demanding an interim rule be formed and a people's constituent assembly selecteded to draft a fresh Constitution.

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