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NSCN-Khaplang faction also offers ceasefire

The outlawed National Socialist Council of Nagaland faction led by S S Khaplang and Kitovi Zhimomi today offered a ceasefire with the Centre, raising hopes for an end to more than five decades of insurgency in the frontier state.

Announcing the truce, Kughalo Mulatonu, chief spokesman of the faction, said, "Links have been established with the Indian government for a ceasefire and possible peace talks." Details of the pact are being worked out.

Mulatonu said the truce would come into effect only after a "preliminary round of talks" is held between the extremists and the government. "We are expecting a response from the Indian prime minister's office by next week about possible dates and the venue for the discussions," he said.

"First the ground rules for a ceasefire and modalities for peace talks need to be worked out before any progress can be made," he added.

More than 25,000 people have been killed in the insurgency in Nagaland over the last 50 years.

A rival faction of the NSCN, headed by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah, has also been waging a war against the Union for a separate homeland, but the two factions are at loggerheads, primarily for territorial supremacy.

The government has been holding negotiations with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) faction since entering into a ceasefire with the outfit on August 1, 1997.

"We have offered the ceasefire keeping in mind the greater interests of the people of Nagaland," the NSCN (K-K) spokesman said.

"The decision to announce the truce was a collective opinion of the NSCN top brass," he said

Separatist insurgencies raging in India's seven northeastern states since Independence in 1947 have claimed more than 50,000 lives.

The government made a fresh appeal last month for unconditional peace talks with all separatist groups willing to forsake violence.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made a special visit to the region in January, where he met the chief ministers of all seven states to discuss strategies for ending the insurgencies.

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