By Sudeshna Sarkar
IANS
Kathmandu : Former US president Jimmy Carter Friday met Nepal's top Maoist leaders, marking the first public interaction between the rebels, who are still outlawed in the US, and an American citizen of his status.
The nearly one-hour talks between the Nobel peace prize laureate and Maoist chief Prachanda and his deputy Baburam Bhattarai at the closely guarded Soaltee Crowne Plaza hotel in the capital gives the guerrillas the status of a political party in the eyes of the world.
Though immediate details were not available about the meeting, a private television channel said Prachanda had urged Carter to use his influence with the US government to remove the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) from the list of banned organisations in the US.
However, there was no official confirmation.
Going by Carter's conversation with other political leaders and dignitaries, the crucial November election, security situation and the role of the Carter Center that has been invited to observe the election, were the key points on the agenda.
On the third day of his four-day visit, made on behalf of the Carter Center, the high-profile visitor also met Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, chief of the Nepal Army Rukmangad Katuwal, head of the UN Mission in Nepal Ian Martin and Indian ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee.
However, he has not met King Gyanendra since he is not considered a major player in the current peace process, the Carter Center said.
Soon after the much-anticipated meeting, the Maoists, whose central committee leaders held an emergency meeting in the capital Friday, announced they would start an agitation.
Chandra Prakash Gajurel, in charge of the party's foreign division, told the media after the meeting that the agitation was necessitated by the continuous attacks on Maoist cadres.
In less than a week, four rebels have been killed in the Terai plains.
A local Maoist leader Dasahrath Thakur was killed Tuesday in Saptari district by a band of former Maoists, who have now begun waging an internecine war on their former comrades.
On Wednesday, even as the guerrillas called a closure in Saptari in protest, two members of its militant youth wing, the Young Communist League, were killed in clashes in Rupandehi, allegedly by the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, whose leaders also met Carter Wednesday.
The killings continued Thursday when Jokhan Mansoor was gunned down in Bara district by the same band of renegade Maoists the Janatantrik Terai Mukrti Morcha led by former Maoist Jwala Singh.
"We have discussed what our moves would be in the government and in parliament," Gajurel said, without further elaboration.