Nepal celebrated the end of a bloody 10-year insurgency by declaring a public holiday today, as the international community hailed the deal under which communist rebels will join an interim government.

THE impoverished Himalayan nation of Nepal entered a new era yesterday as Maoist insurgents and the central government signed a peace deal ending a decade of civil war that has claimed at least 12,500 lives.

Nepal’s government and communist rebels signed a peace deal today to end a decade-long insurgency, paving the way for the guerrillas to join the country’s interim government.

Nepal’s Maoist rebels, who have waged a decade-long war to seize control of the Himalayan nation, will join an interim government to be formed shortly, the rebels’ leader said today after meeting with top government officials.

Nepal could rewrite its constitution within 18 months to meet a key demand of communist rebels who joined the political opposition in a campaign that forced King Gyanendra to relinquish power, the new deputy prime minister said.

Maoist rebels today agreed to peace talks with Nepal’s government, raising hopes for an end to a decade-old insurgency that has killed 13,000 people.

Nepal’s communist rebels abducted 11 unarmed soldiers as they headed home on holiday while at least five more troops were killed in an unrelated explosives mishap at an army barracks, officials said today.

Nepal’s Parliament reconvened today for the first time in four years, after weeks of often-bloody protests forced the king to give up absolute power and return the country to democratic rule.

Nepal’s communist rebels today declared a three-month halt in attacks, lifting a key burden on the new government poised to take control after weeks of bloody protests forced King Gyanendra to reinstate Parliament.

COMMUNIST rebels withdrew a blockade of Nepal’s highways yesterday but gave the country’s political parties a two-day deadline to begin the process of rewriting the constitution, their leader said.

Communist rebels withdrew a blockade of Nepal’s highways today but gave the country’s political parties a two-day deadline to begin the process of rewriting the constitution, their leader said.

TENS of thousands of people celebrated in the streets of Nepal yesterday as weeks of pro-democracy protests were called off after the king gave in to a key demand to reinstate parliament.

Nepal’s opposition alliance called off weeks of devastating pro-democracy protests today after King Gyanendra gave in to a demand to reinstate Parliament, but Maoist insurgents quickly rejected the royal announcement.

Communist rebels bombed government buildings and raided security bases in a southern Nepal town, taking hostages and engaging police in gunbattles that left 13 people dead, officials said today.

Nepal’s king could end up being executed or exiled because of his refusal to relinquish power and restore democracy, the reclusive leader of the Himalayan kingdom’s communist rebels said today, 10 years after the insurgency began.

Communist rebels in Nepal today announced a unilateral ceasefire for the next three months to continue peace talks to end a decade-long civil war in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal has put its troops on high alert nationwide following two attacks this week by communist rebels on soldiers and civilians that killed more than 50 people.

AT least 14 people died in a fresh burst of violence in southern Nepal yesterday, after communist rebels lifted a two-week highway blockade that had crippled the flow of essential supplies in protest at the king’s recent power grab.

The leader of Nepal’s Maoist rebels today called for a ceasefire and agreed to hold peace talks with the government.

Maoist rebels killed at least 102 people, including policemen and troops, when they attacked a district headquarters and a nearby airport in northwestern Nepal, officials said today.

At least 48 policemen are thought to have been killed when suspected Maoist rebels attacked a district headquarters and a nearby airport in northwestern Nepal, police said today.

Nepal’s king today declared a state of emergency after weekend attacks by Maoist rebels left at least 300 dead.

The Nepalese government has asked the country’s king Gyanendra to declare a state of emergency to give the army the power to launch an all-out assault on Maoist rebels fighting for freedom.