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Maoist rebel leader to run in Nepal's April national polls

Maoist rebel leader turned politician Prachanda said on Friday he would stand for election in key polls set for April that will decide Nepal's political future and formally abolish the monarchy.

The April 10 polls will elect a body that will rewrite Nepal's Constitution and formally declare the impoverished Himalayan country a republic, ending a 239-year royal dynasty led by unpopular King Gyanendra.

"As a leader of Communist Party of Nepal [Maoist], I will contest in the upcoming elections," Maoist leader Prachanda, whose nom-de-guerre means "the fierce one," told a news conference.

Analysts have said the Maoists' continued use of mafia-like tactics means they will get minimal support at the polls.

But Prachanda, a former school teacher, was confident of success.

`a majority win'

"We will not be defeated in the constituent assembly elections at any costs. In fact, our party will win a majority," Prachanda said.

Since making peace in late 2006 with the government after a decade of civil war claimed at least 12,500 lives, the ultra-leftists have emerged from their jungle and hill strongholds to Kathmandu's corridors of power.

They have been given about a quarter of the seats in an interim government and seven ministerial portfolios. In return, they have confined their guerrilla army to UN-monitored camps.

The polls, which are a central part of Nepal's peace deal, have been postponed twice, most recently in November.

The UN has warned that continued ethnic and communal violence in the south needs to be tackled before the elections can take place in April.

bus attack

Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed and 22 injured on Friday after a bus exploded in flames in southern Nepal, police and local media said.

A rebel group fighting for regional autonomy claimed responsibility, local media reported. Police said they were unable to confirm this.

The Terai Army, one of many rebel groups fighting for the autonomy of the Terai plains along Nepal's border with India, called the local Radio Birgunj station shortly after the fire, the radio station and other media reports said.

The group said they attacked the bus for defying a transport strike called by the group. Details of how the attack was carried out were unclear.

The bus was traveling from Janakpur to Birgunj in the Terai plains when it caught fire about 80km southeast of Kathmandu, a police officer said.

Police said they had removed seven badly charred bodies, including a woman and a child. They have detained a member of the bus's staff for interrogation, but said the driver of the bus had run away.

In September, the Terai Army claimed responsibility for a series of bombs in Kathmandu which killed three people.
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