UN makes Nepal Maoist food pledge

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The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has proposed to feed Nepal's Maoist rebels and their families once a peace deal has been signed with the government.

The WFP said it would begin implementing the programme as soon as the two sides reach an agreement.

The multi-party government has been negotiating with the rebels since a ceasefire came into force in April.

In recent years, the WFP has been active in impoverished, food-deficit districts in remote areas of the west.

Emergency food

"We are eagerly waiting for the outcome of the ongoing peace process before we begin the operation," WFP Resident Representative Richard Ragan told the Kantipur newspaper.

He said that the package would benefit thousands of rebel fighters and their families, as well as tens of thousands of other people who have been displaced by the insurgency.

The shape of Nepal's final peace settlement is still unclear

Mr Ragan said the UN has already made a policy decision to put the plans into effect.

The UN secretary general has appointed a special representative to oversee the nascent peace process.

UN officials say that over 225,000 people from 10 western districts have benefited from a recent emergency food aid programme in western Nepal.

The BBC's Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu says that peace talks between the Maoists and the government are now at a crucial stage.

Our correspondent says that the two sides are expected to address the issue of integrating 15,000 to 20,000 armed rebel fighters into the national army and police forces.

They also have to find a solution to the rebels' insistence that they should have the right to bear arms.

More than 13,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands of people have been displaced - mainly from the insurgency-hit districts of western and eastern hills - throughout the 10-year-old insurgency.