December 8, 2003	Monday	Shawwal 13, 1424

BANGKOK, Dec 7: Thailand confirmed on Sunday that talks between the Indian government and separatists from the northeastern state of Nagaland, aimed at ending their insurgency, took place in the kingdom over the weekend.

“They asked us to facilitate the immigration process... for peace talks held this weekend,” a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP. “Due to the good relationship between Thailand and India, the kingdom is pleased to help,” he said, declining to say when and where the talks were held and whether they had made any progress.

A rebel spokesman said Saturday from Nagaland’s commercial hub Dimapur that the separatists were meeting with Indian government negotiators in new talks to end India’s longest-running insurgency.

“Our top leaders will be present during the talks in Bangkok and will discuss some very important and crucial issues with the Indian government negotiators,” said Kraibo Chawang, spokesman of the Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).

He said the meeting would begin Saturday and could spill over to Sunday “depending on the progress of the discussions”.

The talks are the latest aimed at reaching a solution in Nagaland, a state of two million people bordering Myanmar where more than 25,000 people have been killed since India’s independence in 1947.

The peace process received a symbolic boost in January when NSCN leaders visited India for the first time in 36 years and met with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The NSCN entered a ceasefire with New Delhi in 1997. A major sticking point in negotiations is the separatists’ demands for a “Greater Nagaland” carving off slices of neighbouring Indian states with sizable Naga populations.—AFP