Nepal Offers Amnesty, Cash to Surrender
ASIA: Nepal’s royal government offered amnesty, cash, jobs and land Monday to communist rebels who surrender in the next three months. Senior Maoist rebel leaders will be given up to $14,000 if they surrender and guerrillas will receive up to $7,000 if they hand over their weapons by mid-June, the government said. “The main purpose of our offer is to restore peace in the country,” said Home Minister Kamal Thapa. “We expect a huge number of them to answer to our offer and surrender.” The guerrillas, who say they are inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have fought for a decade to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy with a communist government. The insurgency has claimed nearly 13,000 lives. Full Story