March 22, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1428

KATHMANDU: A strike in Nepal over mafia-like Maoist violence entered its third day on Wednesday as business leaders said talks with the Himalayan nation’s government had failed to ease their fears.

Businesses were again closed across the capital, Kathmandu, as Internet service providers continued to cut web access in response to Sunday’s abduction and beating of a hotelier who failed to give cash and free rooms to the former rebels.

“The talks have not been positive,” Chandi Raj Dhakal, the chairman of the Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said after a meeting with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.

“We want a written commitment from the government and the eight parties giving assurances of peace and security,” he said.

Nepal’s Maoists had publicly pledged to end violence when they signed a peace deal with Koirala last year, but accusations of intimidation, extortion and violence persist.

The former insurgents have admitted that two members of a Maoist-affiliated trade union had been involved and that they had been suspended.

In his first response to the strike, Maoist leader Prachanda told reporters and business leaders that he wanted to “sort out problems through dialogue”.

Prachanda, whose name means “the fierce one”, also admitted that some cases of extortion had continued after the signing of the peace deal, but said he was addressing the issue.

“Some mistakes have occurred on our part and we are ready to correct them,” he vowed.

But business leaders say their patience has run out, with hotels threatening to shut up shop and turf out tourists. Internet connections in Nepal are also being cut for two hours a day.

The coalition government is expected to meet with the Maoists later on Wednesday, and has promised to act against those responsible for the beating.

“I have already directed police officials to take action against those who abducted and thrashed the owner of the Woodland Hotel,” Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times newspaper.

The Maoists and the government signed a landmark peace deal in January that ended a decade of civil war in which more than 13,000 people died.

Under the deal, the Maoists agreed to register their fighters and weapons with the United Nations and enter the political mainstream.—AFP