Indian rebel leader freed, calls for peace talks

Sat, 01 Jan 2011

New Delhi - A rebel leader released on bail in India's north-eastern state of Assam Saturday said he was ready for talks with the government to end his group's three-decade insurgency.

Arabinda Rajkhowa, chairman of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), was greeted by scores of supporters after his release from prison in state capital Guwahati where he was held for over a year on sedition charges.

Rajkhowa, 54, was granted bail by a special court after the government prosecutor said the state had no objection.

"We aim for the welfare of the people," Rajkhowa said. "Today, we declare that we are ready to take the talks forward,"

He added that the ULFA would now hold "internal discussions" to decide on how the talks were to proceed.

New Delhi, which aided Rajkhowa's release, hopes that he will call other rebel commanders in hiding to join peace talks with the government.

The government is ready to grant amnesty to insurgent leaders to enable them to take part in talks.

Many top ULFA commanders like Pradip Gogoi, Raju Baruah and Mithing Daimary have been released on bail in recent months with a view to launching the talks.

A major stumbling block is that the ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua - believed to be hiding in a South-East Asian country - has opposed the talks.

But government negotiator PC Haldar was optimistic. "Talks should begin in two-three weeks time. All hurdles have been eliminated and it's time for dialogue," Haldar told the CNN-IBN network.

The ULFA, Assam's biggest separatist movement, has been fighting for an independent homeland since 1979. More than 15,000 people have died in the insurgency in the past decade.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360355,freed-calls-peace-talks.html.