Naga rebels to hold more talks with govt

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), led by self-exiled guerrilla leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, has struggled for nearly six decades to create a "Greater Nagaland" by slicing off parts of three neighbouring states to add to the mountainous Nagaland state.

"The talks were very positive and the two sides agreed to meet for another round of negotiations within a month," NSCN-IM spokesman Kraibo Chawang told AFP by telephone from Nagaland's commercial hub, Dimapur.

The two-day talks ended in Amsterdam late Saturday with the Indian side represented by federal minister Oscar Fernandes and New Delhis chief peace interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah.

The seven-member rebel delegation was led by general secretary Muivah.

"The Indian government negotiators and our leaders seriously explored possibilities for hammering out a solution," senior rebel leader R.H. Raising said.

The Indian government did not issue a statement on the meeting.

The NSCN-IM and New Delhi entered into a ceasefire in August 1997, which has been renewed regularly. The latest truce expires July 31.

On the eve of the Amsterdam talks however the rebels had threatened to pull out of the ceasefire unless New Delhi accepted its call for a tribal homeland.

The demand for a "Greater Nagaland" that would unite 1.2 million Nagas has been strongly opposed by the surrounding states.

The rebels and the government have held at least 50 rounds of peace talks in the past nine years to end one of South Asia's longest-running insurgencies that has claimed around 25,000 lives since India attained independence in 1947.