CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH HISTORIAN DENIED ID CARD

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NEWS ALERTS

VENEZUELA  –  NEW TRIBES OBEYS ORDER TO LEAVE TRIBAL LANDS IN VENEZUELA
INDIA  –  EXTREMISTS AT MASSIVE EVENT IN INDIA CALL FOR ANTI-CONVERSION LAW
            & UPDATE:  EVENT IN INDIA SHOWS EXTENT OF FEAR OF CHRISTIANITY
MORE  –  HINDU MILITANTS ATTACK MISSIONARIES, VILLAGERS AT SHOWING OF FILM
MIDDLE_EAST  –  CHRISTIANS FEEL PRESSURE AS HAMAS BEGIN GRAPPLING WITH LEADERSHIP
NIGERIA  –  CHRISTIAN NURSING STUDENT APPARENTLY KIDNAPPED IN NIGERIA
PAKISTAN  –  CARTOON ROW: IMAGE OF CROSS PRINTED ON FOOTBALL (SOCCER BALL) PATCHES IN PAKISTAN
AGAIN  – FRESH CARTOON PROTEST STAGED IN PAKISTAN
CHINA  –  CHINESE SECURITY AGENTS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
ALSO  –  CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH HISTORIAN DENIED ID CARD
GAZA  –  MILITANTS THREATEN TO BLOW UP PALESTINE BIBLE SOCIETY OFFICE IN GAZA
NEPAL  –  NEPAL ARTICLES



HEADLINE:       NEW TRIBES OBEYS ORDER TO LEAVE TRIBAL LANDS IN VENEZUELA

Source:            www.compassdirect.org

Date:                February 12, 2006
Appeal could take months; indigenous churches left with leadership challenge.
by Deann Alford
AUSTIN, Texas, February 12 (Compass) ?Complying with President Hugo Chavez order to leave Venezuela indigenous lands by today, the last two New Tribes Mission (NTM) workers left the area late last week. They joined other NTM staff members at Puerto Ordaz, even as Venezuela courts considered New Tribes?appeal of the expulsion order. Chavez?edict, published in the Official Gazette last November 14, expelled NTM from indigenous lands ? not from Venezuela. The tiny churches among Venezuela indigenous peoples will be immediately affected. That we need to pray about is for these people who will take the leadership of their own people,?said Samuel Olson, head of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela. They have to run their own ship.?o:p>

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HEADLINE:       EXTREMISTS AT MASSIVE EVENT IN INDIA CALL FOR ANTI-CONVERSION LAW

Source:            www.compassdirect.org

Date:                February 13, 2006

RSS members urge Hindus to take up arms against Christians.
by Vishal Arora

DANGS, India, February 13 (Compass) ?Speakers at the Shabri Kumbh, a awakening?event organized by Hindu extremists in Dangs district, Gujarat state over the weekend, encouraged tribal Christians to econvert?and passed a resolution calling on the Indian government to enact a nationwide anti-conversion law. At press time, however, there were no reported attacks or attempts to reconvert tribal Christians as a result of the event ?in part due to a heavy police and military presence in the area. A Gujarati police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the local people of Dangs were not happy about the event. Lost residents stayed in their homes and did not take part,?he said. lost of the Dangs people who did go to the rally were the poorest tribals who were paid off by the organizers, who offered free food and transport.?


UPDATE:          EVENT IN INDIA SHOWS EXTENT OF FEAR OF CHRISTIANITY

Source:            www.compassdirect.org

Date:                February 14, 2006
Hindutva rally抯 anti-Christian, anti-conversion rhetoric is telling.
by Vishal Arora

DANGS, India, February 14 (Compass) ?Christianity is a major threat to Indian nationalism, organizers of a econversion?rally held last weekend in Gujarat indicated yesterday during the closing ceremony. Organizers of the Shabri Kumbh led the 60,000-strong crowd to repeat, will save my religion,?and the throng often shouted, ?I style=”mso-bidi-font-style: normal”>Jai Shri Ram (Praise be to the god Rama).?The assembly resolved to save the Hindu religion and Bharat Mata (Mother India goddess) by reconverting Christians. Sadhvi Ritambhara, a popular Hindu preacher whose programs are aired on several TV channels, said, they [Christians] call us harvest. They intend to pluck us out. And foreigners want to do this to us.?Ritambhara said it was imperative for Hindus to take up arms to save their religion.

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HEADLINE:       HINDU MILITANTS ATTACK MISSIONARIES, VILLAGERS AT SHOWING OF FILM

Source:            www.hcjb.org

Date:                February 13, 2006
Two native Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionaries in Haryana, India, were recently attacked while showing the an of Mercy?film about Jesus, reported GFA President K.P. Yohannan in an e-mail report. More than 200 villagers had gathered to watch the film in the courtyard of a believer home when a group of young Hindu militants attacked and started beating the missionaries. When some of those watching the film tried to rescue the believers, they were also attacked. Police came to restore order, but as soon as they left, about 1,000 radicals surrounded the house, shouting anti-Christian slogans and threatening the believers. miraculously, God intervened and the owner prevented them from entering his property,?Yohannan said. (Gospel for Asia)
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HEADLINE:       CHRISTIANS FEEL PRESSURE AS HAMAS BEGIN GRAPPLING WITH LEADERSHIP

Source:            www.mnnonline.org

Date:                February 14, 2006

Middle East (MNN)–Topping the news, Christians are concerned about their future under Hamas’ rule.  The new deputies suggested the introduction of at least parts of Sharia law, which sent alarm through much of the remaining community.  Though leadership is trying to distance itself from the proposal, the concern remains.  Open Doors'[1]  Al Janssen says a recent bombing outside the Bible Society in Gaza has raised the tensions even more.    “I think we, as the church in the West, need to be aware that there are Christians among the Palestinians.  We need to encourage them, in any way we can, to stay and be a witness for peace.”  Janssen says the remnant church is determined.  That means their teams will be there to help support and resource believers.    “If they aren’t there, who’s going to be witnessing to Muslim extremists?  Who’s going to go into the refugee camps and show the love of Christ right there in the place where these young jihadists are recruited?’
Full Story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/8304

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HEADLINE:       CHRISTIAN NURSING STUDENT APPARENTLY KIDNAPPED IN NIGERIA

Source:            www.compassdirect.org

Date:                February 14, 2006

Institution had expelled her from school after Muslims accused her of blasphemy.
by Obed Minchakpu

SOKOTO, Nigeria, February 14 (Compass) ?School authorities closed a nursing institution here yesterday following the suspected kidnapping of a Christian student by Islamic militants on Friday (February 10).
Muslims students had accused Ladi Mohammed, a female student of the School of Nursing and Midwifery in the capital city of northern Nigeria Sokoto state, of blasphemy against the prophet Muhammad.
or this reason, the militants, who threatened to cut off her head, hunted and kidnapped her after she had fled from the school,?said John Usman, a Christian student at the institution.
School authorities closed the school for security reasons. They had already expelled Mohammed from the institution last week for the alleged remarks.
Militant Muslim students in the school had circulated a pamphlet claiming Mohammed had made a is guided and derogatory statement against Islam.?A Christian from the Zuru ethnic group of the state of Kebbi, Mohammed injured the feelings of the Muslims, the students claimed. School authorities did not say, however, what she uttered to elicit such a harsh reaction from the Muslim students and institutional authorities.
Alhaji Abubakar Zaki Amale, Sokoto State Commissioner of Health, confirmed the accusations, expulsion and closing of the school. The incident resulted in tensions brewing at the school, with Christian students living in palpable fear of being attacked by the militant Muslim students.
Alhaji Sadu Gaya, state commissioner of police, said the police command had drafted men to provide security at the school. Gaya said the school was closed to avert potential religious conflict.
hank God the news [about the incident] got to us in good time, and we quickly mobilized our men to the school,?he said. It would have caused a lot of trouble if the school had remained opened.?
When asked if Mohammed was with the police, the police commissioner said, he is not with us,?confirming fears among Christians at the school that she was kidnapped. Her Christian colleagues at the school said her parents have been searching for her without success.
Sokoto state is one of the 12 northern Nigeria states implementing the Islamic legal system, sharia. In the six years since adopting sharia, the state government under Gov. Atahiru Bafarawa has Islamized all public policies, creating room for what analysts call a rise in Islamic fundamentalism.
With an estimated population of 4.2 million, Sokoto state has witnessed religious conflicts that have resulted in the destruction of churches and the killing of Christians. Most of the state抯 Muslim population is Sunni, with a Shia a minority.
The city of Sokoto is the seat of the caliphate, the official headquaters of Islam in the country.
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HEADLINE:       CARTOON ROW: IMAGE OF CROSS PRINTED ON FOOTBALL (SOCCER BALL) PATCHES IN PAKISTAN

Source:            www.assistnews.net

Date:                February 15, 2006
By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
SIALKOT, PAKISTAN (ANS) — Pakistani Christians got the first taste of Muslim anger over publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as Sialkot Football industry has deliberately printed image of holy cross on the patches of football in its bid to venge? the publication of the controversial sketches by European newspapers.
The printing of cross on the football patches has sparked outrage among Pakistani Christians across the country. In what appears to be a deliberate attempt to desecrate holy cross the industry plans to stitch the patches bearing printing of cross on scores of footballs, which would be later, sold in the national and international markets.
The hate-promoting plan of the football industry received condemnation from the clergy and faithful in Pakistan and they have urged the authorities concerned to stop the foot ball industry from going ahead with the plan, fearing that implementation of the move would further dim the prospects of inter-faith harmony in the pre-dominantly Muslim country.
In his bid to stop the industry from churning out the footballs bearing image of cross in the domestic and international markets, Bishop Timotheus Nasir wrote a letter to Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, urging him to intervene and stop the industry from taking the step that may harm religious harmony.
The letter read: with [a] sense of solidarity?with our Muslim friends all over the world, anger and anguish over the heinous crime of the Western Press on derogatory publication, I deplore and condemn such publication in strongest words that has hurt the religious feelings of every Muslim in the world. I also believe that freedom of Press?does not mean hurting the feelings of over a billion Muslim around the globe. Such freedom must be condemned and controlled by all respective governments.
At the same time, I am shocked to see burning of Holy Cross by the Muslim protesters and rample?and tampede?of the Holy Cross on the national flag of Denmark. I also condemn the desecration of Holy Cross by burning it by the protestors in Pakistan. At the same time ialkot Football Industry?has avenged the Danish news paper crime by deliberately printing the holy Cross?on atches?of Footballs as shown above.
wish to ask Your Excellency, why are we, the Christians living in Pakistan are always punished for the deeds of those people who do not ask us before committing such heinous crimes against Islam. What is the reason of printing the sign of holy Cross?on footballs? Do the Muslim industrialists wish that an extremely sacred Sign of Christian World be kicked around?by Muslims? I say y Muslims?as now most Islamic countries have boycotted the West, these Foot Balls will find market in Muslim countries.
our Excellency, this small match?will be 慡titched? on thousands of footballs?and sold in the local and international market as a revenge of lasphemous Images?in Western Press, can not be ignored or tolerated. We hold our religion and Sacred religious signs as Sacred as any Muslim does. To protect the sanctity of the Holy Cross, you would find us ready to be hanged on Crosses physically though we are mentally hanged on Crosses every now and then by our Muslim friends in Pakistan. Sangla Hill is still burning in our minds.?BR>
The Bishop concluded by saying, it is therefore very humbly requested Your Excellency, to please take actions against those industrialists who have illfully Desecrated?the Holy Cross. We wish to remain calm, as always, yet a line must be drawn between our patience and the Religious Persecution of Christians in Pakistan by Muslims.
our Excellency, the manufacturing of such footballs with sign of Holy Cross?must be banned and the manufacturers must be punished for desecration of the Holy Cross.?BR>
Meanwhile, a church has been reportedly attacked by mobs led by six party religio-political alliances MMA in Hyderabad.
The crowds vented their spleen over publication of the Prophet Muhammad Cartoons on Pakistani Christians by pelting stones at the Church building situated in Tilk Incline area of Hyderabad on Friday. The enraged crowd also erected hindrance to the entrance of the church.
Addressing a news conference in Hyderabad on Sunday (Feb 12), the Bishop of Hyderabad Diocese Church of Pakistan, Rafiq Masih, stressed religious harmony among Pakistani Christians and Muslims.
Condemning attack on the Church in Hyderabad, he said Muslims had every right to stage peaceful protests over publication of the objectionable sketches of the Prophet Muhammad but added that resorting to arson and damaging of church properties by Muslims in Pakistan was unlawful.
He said that Pakistani Muslims must stay away from attacking on churches in the country as the churches and church properties in Pakistan are not properties of Denmark, France, and Germany or of any other European country.
rson, loot and killing is no way of expressing religious anger. Pakistanis could express their anger through boycotting the products and by social boycott of the countries in question,?he maintained.
Pakistani Christians are no strangers to Muslim wrath after any event in the west, which is viewed as unjust, discriminatory or sacrilegious by Pakistani Muslims.
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HEADLINE:       FRESH CARTOON PROTEST STAGED IN PAKISTAN

Source:            www.assistnews.net

Date:                February 16, 2006
By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan
KARACHI, PAKISTAN (ANS) — Pakistan cartoon protests are showing no signs of abating as thousands of protesters demonstrated in the megapolis of the country on Thursday, Feb 16.
The protesters reportedly burnt effigies of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The demonstrators burned Danish flag and chanted slogans: God’s curse be on those who insulted the Prophet.?BR>
The Pakistan Government had taken stringent security measures to ward off any untoward eventuality. It had ordered closure of educational institutions to avoid any unpleasant incident.
Led by leaders of the religious parties the protesters also reportedly attacked office of the Norwegian cell phone firm Telenor.
During the Karachi demonstration the charged protesters set ablaze a foreign food outlet, KFC.
Likewise other protest rallies, the leaders of the Karachi rally also demanded of Pakistan government to recall its ambassadors from the European countries and send back ambassadors of these governments.
The continuing demonstrations have so far claimed five lives. The owners of some private educational institutions in the country have closed their institutions for couple of days, fearing trouble.
Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Raslaat Mahaz (Alliance for protection of Prophet Muhammad reverence) gave a call for series of protest rallies and demonstrations in Pakistan besides giving call for countrywide protest on March 3.
The religious parties seem engaged in attempts to hijack the issue to promote their religious agenda. Members of religious minorities in Pakistan, Christians in particular, may bear the brunt of Muslim anger over publication of the objectionable drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.
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HEADLINE:       CHINESE SECURITY AGENTS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON CHRISTIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

Source:            www.mnnonine.org

Date:                February 15, 2006

China Aid Association (CAA) learned that the freedom of a prominent Christian rights activist continues to be restricted by Chinese security agents even after his release from a two-year prison term. Xu Yonghai, a former psychiatric doctor at Beijing Pingan Hospital, has been under surveillance since his release from a prison in Hangzhou in China Zhejiang province on Sunday, Jan. 29. Xu told the CAA that before his release, Chinese security agents installed three video cameras in front of his apartment in order to monitor his activities. Officials also failed to return his identification cards. Xu wife, Li Shanna, refused to sign a form demanding she report her husband activities to the Chinese authorities. Xu was arrested in Beijing along with two others in November 2003 because of their role in documenting the destruction of churches and the persecution of Chinese Christians. Both Xu and his wife lost their hospital jobs after his arrest. (Evangelical News/Christian Newswire/China Aid Association)

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HEADLINE:       CHINESE HOUSE CHURCH HISTORIAN DENIED ID CARD

Source:            www.compassdirect.org

Date:                February 17, 2006

Police hold personal journals, identification after Zhang Yinan release from prison.
by Timothy Chow
BEIJING, February 17 (Compass) When Chinese house church historian Zhang Yinan applied for a passport in order to attend a prayer breakfast in Washington this month, police immediately surrounded his house and even followed his wife to the hospital where she works as a nurse.
Zhang, 50, was arrested on September 26, 2003 and imprisoned for two years on charges of attempting to subvert the national government.?He was released on September 25, 2005, but the Lushan County Police Bureau has retained his personal documents, including his identity card, making it impossible for him to travel.
The only official document Zhang still has is his prison card from the ? School of Cultivating Virtues?(a e-education through labor center? in Henan.
Police in Henan used Zhang personal prayer journals as evidence to accuse him of trying to overthrow the government.
Zhang recently demanded the return of these journals and other documents, but police officer Li Haitao, Zhang chief interrogator, refused. When asked for an explanation, Li said he had to continue studying the journals to find any other incriminating evidence against Zhang.
Li was promoted and became director of the Lushan County Domestic Security Protection Group after his successful prosecution of Zhang in 2003.
Upon his release, Zhang wrote an open letter to thank Christians worldwide who had prayed for him and helped his family during his imprisonment. At the end of the letter, he quoted from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speech I Have a Dream to describe his new found freedom: ?Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!?
Zhang soon realized that his freedom was only partial. Without an identity card, he could not use public transport, stay in a hotel or leave the province.
When Zhang asked for the return of his ID card, however, Li said it was not among the confiscated items.
In December 2005, Zhang received an invitation to attend the 56th National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. After Zhang went to the police station to apply for a passport, the police surrounded his apartment and Zhang wife was constantly shadowed. Police not only followed her to her hospital workplace, but into an operating room where she was assisting doctors with surgery.
Cold Policemen
An estimated 50 to 60 policemen were assigned to a 24-hour surveillance of Zhang house until the prayer breakfast began on February 2.
Later, some of the police on duty told Zhang that they had no choice but to follow orders from higher authorities.
As this surveillance coincided with the Chinese New Year holiday, Zhang called Li and asked him to allow some of the policemen who were standing in the freezing weather to go home to their families; he promised he would not leave the apartment. Li said it was beyond his authority to make that decision.
Zhang Dangyi, Li predecessor, was originally the chief investigator of Zhang case. After much study of Zhang prayer journal, he concluded that, hang Yinan might be thinking something that he shouldn’t be thinking at this time, but clearly he has no criminal action at all.?He suggested that Zhang be released without charges, but Henan authorities responded by giving his position to Li, who had a reputation for mistreating house church believers in the region.
Police are still withholding Zhang identity papers, but he is determined to continue traveling and ministering to house church believers.  am called by God to be an evangelist,?Zhang says. o matter how long and hard the winter is, it will eventually pass.?
As he once wrote from prison to his son, rom Wang Mingdao arrest in August 1955 until today, Chinese house church preachers have been imprisoned continuously. But the Lord has raised up lilies among the thorns.?
Zhang added, our Lord Jesus loves China, and He allows one generation after another to endure the suffering and go through many kinds of trials so that we may be built up in Him.?

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HEADLINE:       MILITANTS THREATEN TO BLOW UP PALESTINE BIBLE SOCIETY OFFICE IN GAZA

Source:            www.hcjb.org

Date:                February 16, 2006

Armed militants have threatened to blow up the building housing the Gaza office of the Palestine Bible Society unless it shuts its doors. The Bible Society received a letter from militants containing the threats on Sunday, Feb. 12. If these demands are not met, the letter warned, all residents should leave the building by Tuesday, Feb. 28, as it would be blown up on March 1. As a result of the letter, the landlord demanded that the office close, at least temporarily. The building also houses several Muslim families. e take this very seriously,? said a Bible Society spokesman. their seriousness is already proved by the explosive device militants placed at the door of the Bible Society the night of Friday, Feb. 3. Around 11 p.m. the bomb exploded, destroying the steel and glass doors.?(Voice of the Martyrs/Open Doors)
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HEADLINE:       NEPAL ARTICLES

Source:            Intercessors Network

Date:                February 17, 2006

Nepal King plans exile: US Embassy expected to evacuate
By D. Michael Vandeveer
Nepal remains tense as the 7-Party agitation against the Monarchy gains strength and the Maoist continue to have success on the battle-field. Sources within the Palace report the King and his family are preparing for exile.
The recent municipal elections proved to be a rebuff to the Nepalese King Gyanendra and have been denounced by the 7-Party Alliance, the Maoist, the UN and the international community as un-democratic.
US Ambassador James Moriarty in a own Hall Meeting?for the American community stressed, the need for maps to everyone homes? and promised GPS readings for all homes of US citizens by February 20th.
things are going to get worse in the coming months so please have your o-bag?ready so that you can evacuate in a minutes notice? the Ambassador warned and described the situation in Nepal as , mess and getting worse?
the Maoist may take advantage of there being no government, and come in and take it over? cautioned the US Ambassador.
The Ambassador said the Maoist are threatening Nepalese employees of the US Government, as well as Nepalese in US funded projects.
On February-1, 2005, King Gyanendra suspended all civil and democratic rights in Nepal and has ruled with an iron-fist from the throne.
Journalist, peace and trade union activist, representatives of civil-society, and members and supporters of the 7-Party Alliance have been beaten, arrested, brutalized on a daily basis.
Human-Rights Organizations and the UN have condemned the Nepalese King and the RNA (Royal Nepalese Army) for crimes against humanity and demanded a return to constitutional Democracy.?BR>The US, a major arms supplier, and trainer of the RNA have steadfastly condemned any peace-talks between the Maoist insurgents and the 7-Party Alliance, while paying lip-service to peace.
A Senior US military advisor, retired Army Lieutenant General Edwin P. Smith, President of the Honolulu-based Asian Pacific Center for Security Studies was rushed to Kathmandu last month to assess the deteriorating situation. Without US arms and aid the Kingdom would be bankrupt by now. Economist estimated that after June 2006, there will be no possibility of paying monthly salaries to civil-servants and to the 150,000 strong RNA and police.
The Maoist has threatened the King with execution for, crimes against the Nepali people?
It is not if, but when King Bir Bikhram Shah will leave the Himalayan Kingdom for exile, the major question is, will the Rana controlled RNA support the New Republic and allow the Maoist to lay down their arms and join the 7-Party Alliance in democratic elections, or will the RNA continue to suppress the democratic aspirations of the Nepali people ?
exile or trial?for Nepal king 
Nepal top Maoist rebel leader has said the only future he can envisage for King Gyanendra is exile or trial.
Prachanda made his remarks in a rare interview to mark the 10th anniversary of the Maoist revolt. He said a trial of the king might take place in a eople court? leading to possible execution.
However, elsewhere in the interview Prachanda also said he could envisage Nepal remaining a monarchy if the people wanted it.
Nepal  minister of state for information, Shrish Shumsher Rana, described the remarks as unfortunate? Asked whether it was time to consider direct negotiations with the Maoists, Mr Rana said the interview had made it clear the Maoists would give no quarter to their opponents or go back on their demands.
people verdict?
This was the first face-to-face broadcast interview given by the Maoist reclusive chairman, Prachanda, who has been living an underground existence for 25 years.
His rebels now control much of the countryside, but the BBC抯 Charles Haviland in Kathmandu, who conducted the interview, says this is a conflict most observers believe neither side can win militarily.
The Maoists are pressing for an elected assembly to write a new Nepalese constitution.
Prachanda said he believed such an assembly would make Nepal into a republic. But he said his party would accept the people verdict?
whatever decision the people should give, we will be ready to accept this,? he told this reporter.
Asked if that meant he would theoretically be able to accept a people verdict of keeping the monarchy, he said: es, theoretically it is like that.?o:p>
But asked later what place the king might have in Nepal five years from now, Prachanda said:  think hel either be executed by the people court or maybe exiled.?
He said the king, who took direct political power a year ago, had left no room for compromise.
Nepal does not allow capital punishment and Prachanda comments will shock many Nepalis and probably cause discomfort to a group of opposition parties which recently signed a political agreement with the Maoists, our correspondent says.
pragmatic?
Prachanda said he was addened?by the number of deaths in the conflict – some 13,000 – and by what he called accidents such as the death of children in bomb blasts.
But he was unrepentant about using violence against those he described as informers.
Asked if the Maoists aimed to conquer the capital, Kathmandu, militarily, he said that foreign help to the government had made that difficult, and that such an action would cause a lot of harm to the Nepali people?
Analysts say the Maoists are nowadays a pragmatic party, and for much of this interview the 52-year-old Maoist reflected this, our correspondent says.
But at other times he spoke with what seemed like rage against those he repeatedly described as feudalists, he adds.
Meeting Nepal Maoist leader
By Charles Haviland
On Monday, February 13, Nepal Maoist movement marks its 10th year of insurgency in the Himalayan kingdom.
In a rare move, the rebel leader, Prachanda, spoke out about the conflict that has claimed some 13,000 lives – and the possible exile or execution of Nepal King Gyanendra.
It was difficult to believe that the man sitting modestly in the corner was Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known under his nom-de-guerre of Prachanda (the Fierce One?.
This is a man whose face, until a few weeks ago, was known only through a single photograph, taken in rural Nepal in 2001.
In that photo his forehead is creased in a frown of concentration.
The 52-year-old man I met, with his speckled beard, was mild-mannered, shy, joking, laughing nervously – more humorous than intimidating and without the overt charisma of some revolutionary leaders.
He looked more like a popular uncle than a communist who has been underground since 1981 and waging war for a decade.
His number two, Baburam Bhattarai, with a cloth cap and eagle eyes, and flanking Prachanda, looked much more revolutionary.
But once seated in front of the camera, Prachanda grew more intense, periodically thrusting forward his tensely hunched shoulders as he spoke.
It was as if the words were inside him, waiting to be forcefully expelled.
Towards violence or peace?
This former agriculture student, born in the idyllic Annapurna region of Nepal, is the undisputed leader of Nepal Maoists, Supreme Commander of their army.
Despite their apparent closeness during the interview, a year ago he expelled Dr Bhattarai and his wife from the party for accusing Prachanda of being power-hungry. It took months for him to be reinstated.
His war has taken some 13,000 lives. More people have in fact been killed by the government side, but the Maoists have ruthlessly pinpointed and executed people.
Much of the Maoists?behaviour nowadays is pragmatic rather than ideological and suggests they may be preparing to move towards peace. An agreement they recently signed with mainstream parties opposed to King Gyanendra reflects this, and so did many of Prachanda remarks.
For instance, his statements that the Maoists now accept multi-party democracy; that they are unlikely to try to take Kathmandu by force; that a future government involving them could work with America, and that if there can be elections to a constituent assembly, the Maoists are ready to all off the war?
Most notably of all, that if that assembly so decided, Nepal could theoretically?remain a monarchy.
Democracy versus monarchy
But at other times, pent-up rage seemed to come to the fore – most notably when Prachanda said the king might face a future of exile or even trial at what he called a People Court, leading to possible execution.
Many Nepalis, whatever their political view of the monarch, regard him as an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. Nepal has in any case abolished capital punishment.
Before the king seized political power a year ago, the Maoists used to say they would only talk to the palace, as the centre of real power.
Now, by contrast, Prachanda gives the impression that his party has totally given up on the idea of reconciling with the monarch, at the same time talking with ever-growing warmth of the opposition parties – despite the Maoists killing many of their cadres in recent years.
He also said that any permanent unilateral ceasefire, building on their recently expired temporary one, would under present conditions amount to surrender.
Prachanda made it clear, too, that his party is a long way from abandoning its violent practices.
Yes, he was addened?by the war death toll and by what he called the accidental?death of children through bombs planted by the Maoists.
Yes, the Maoists were investigating?the shooting of a municipal election candidate and the killing of a taxi driver during a Maoist general shutdown.
But another election candidate had been an informer? he insisted, liable to be tried by a Maoist court and possibly executed?
The same applied to villagers whom the Maoists deemed to be helping the army.
The interview gave some interesting insights into the Maoists?current thinking.
Some regional analysts have speculated on growing ties between Nepal Maoists and India ones, the axalites?fighting for communism in impoverished states such as Andhra Pradesh.
Prachanda said that although there were ideological ties, his party did not believe in exporting revolution, despite its affiliation with the Revolutionary International Movement – an umbrella body dedicated to spreading communism.
ideologically we want to move the global revolution forward but in practical terms we do not believe one country army should go to another country and fight for it.?
And Prachanda vision of a future Nepal is one he says is already being built, eroding class, caste and gender barriers.
It is also puritanical, outlawing alcohol, gambling, and ulgar literature?from India and the US.
And militarised:  poor village woman with a gun feels her life as a woman has been elevated?
A family affair
Prachanda, like Baburam Bhattarai, is a revolutionary to the core. At one point he said to Dr Bhattarai that he wished we would ask some ideological questions.
Prachanda told us his son, Prakash Dahal, and three daughters were all in the movement, as was his wife, Sarita, whom he had met through the party.
Dr Bhattarai told us that his wife, Hisila Yami, news of whom remains sketchy, has, like him, been rehabilitated and is in an advisory role to the Central Committee. But they would not reveal much more.
Periodically, Nepali journalists go and interview Prachanda widowed 77-year-old father, Muktiram Dahal, who lives near the famous Chitwan national park.
Mr Dahal, who has not met Prachanda for 11 years, urges him to lay down his arms.
His son does not yet seem ready for that, and his rhetoric is still fiery.
But maybe he is inching closer to it.
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