Three Maoist rebels killed in encounter with police in Nepal

According to newspapers, the encounter between the police and the rebels took place on Thursday when a police patrol was fired on by the Maoists. The newspapers quoted police officials as saying there were no casualities among the police.

The Maoists seeking to establish a communist state in the Himalayan Hindu kingdom have been waging what they call a Peoples War for the past five years during which nearly 1,500 people have been killed.

The reports came as the Maoists said in a message faxed to newspaper offices that they were ready to resume peace talks aborted early this month if the government makes public the whereabouts of some central committee Maoist leaders.

These leaders, Dandapani Neupani, Matrika Yadav and Iswori Prasad Dahal, among others, are thought to be in police custody but no one knows for sure. Human rights activist and leftist leader, Padam Ratna Tuladhar, had brokered government-Maoist talks early this month but the talks broke down because the government staged a news conference to announce the "defection" of a central committee Maoist leader who was in its custody.

The Nepalese press and intellectuals have been calling on both the government and the Maoists to sit down for talks and put an end to the violence that has hampered development in the country, particularly west Nepal.

(la/dpa)