Maoists, Andhra govt agree to retain truce

"The talks were most cordial and fruitful," said state Home Minister Jana Reddy, who led the government delegation to the four-day talks.

Reddy said the state government had agreed to look into several demands by the rebels, including identifying surplus land to distribute among the poor and the release of political prisoners.

The Maoists, however, said the governments response was "unsatisfactory and vague".

"The government has asked us for more time. Our response will depend on whether they will keep their promises," Akkiraju Haragopal, leader of the Maoist delegation, told reporters when talks ended late Monday.

While the government has suggested the next round of talks be held after two months, the rebels want another meeting on November 17.

The Maoist groups who took part in the talks were the People's War Group (PWG), which recently merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI), and the Janashakthi or Peoples Power.

The two groups have been waging a rebellion in largely rural Andhra Pradesh for more than three decades to create better living conditions for landless farmers and indigenous people.

They are also demanding the ousting from the state of multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and multinational firms. This is to be discussed in the second round of negotiations.

The Maoist rebellion has killed more than 10,000 people in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Indian negotiators are expected to meet separatist guerrilla leaders from the northeastern state of Nagaland in Bangkok today for new talks to end India's longest-running insurgency, a rebel spokesman said in Guwahati.

"We will be discussing issues pertaining to the integration of all Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast, besides asking New Delhi to expedite the peace process and come to a solution soon," said Kraibo Chawang, spokesman for the Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN).

Chawang, speaking to AFP from Nagaland's commercial hub Dimapur, said 10 top NSCN leaders from the state had left for Bangkok to join their two exiled leaders, Thuingaleng Muivah and Isak Chishi Swu.