Nepal parties to campaign against Maoists

Mainstream political parties in Nepal plan to organise demonstrations and public meetings across the country to rally people against Maoist rebels, who are fighting to establish a communist state.

The decision was reached at a meeting organised by the main opposition United Marxist-Leninist party, the ruling Nepali Congress, and four other parliamentary parties.

Correspondents say the last time these parties got together was more than a decade ago when they launched a pro-democracy movement to force the king to give up his absolute powers and establish a multi-party parliamentary democracy.

A state of emergency has been in place in Nepal since November, but that has not stopped violent rebel attacks against non-Maoist workers and infrastrucure.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service