Maoist rebels start clean up campaign

Описание: (31 Oct 2006)
1. Wide shot of locals and tourists walking in the Thamel area
2. Garbage truck passing
3. Close-up of shovels
4. SOUNDBITE: (Nepali) Hisila Yami, local Maoist leader heading cleaning campaign:
"We took up arms for a cause, but the political situation has changed and now we are concentrating on reconstruction."
5. Maoist rebels with brooms and shovels walking in street
6. Rebels sweeping sidewalk
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vox pop: Mr Dev, tourist:
"It's good that the Maoists are cleaning Kathmandu here, this is wonderful."
8. Rebels sweeping street
9. SOUNDBITE: (Nepali) Mukti, Maoist rebel:
"We are revolutionary. We will change according to the need of the country. Before we cleaned up the villages, but now we are cleaning up the city because people are suffering from rubbish piling up. Once we needed to pick up guns, but now we have picked up brooms."
10. Rebels sweeping street
11. Rebels collecting garbage
12. Locals and tourists in street
STORYLINE
Dozens of communist rebels took up brooms and shovels to sweep the centre of the Nepalese capital on Tuesday as part of a campaign to clean up the city's streets.
"Once we needed to pick up guns, but now we have picked up brooms," said one Maoist rebel participating in the cleaning campaign.
The Maoist rebels, who fought government troops for more than a decade before declaring a cease-fire earlier this year, began the cleanup campaign on Monday, starting from the outskirts of Kathmandu, and moving toward the city centre on Tuesday.
Wearing red head scarves and straps identifying themselves as Maoist rebel cadres, about 50 rebels used bamboo brooms to clean up Thamel, the tourist hub in Katmandu for thousands of Western tourists who visit Nepal every year.
"We took up arms for a cause, but the political situation has changed and now we are concentrating on reconstruction," said Hisila Yami, a local Maoist leader heading the campaign.
The rebels declared a cease-fire and joined the peace process in April after weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations forced King Gyanendra to give up his authoritarian rule and restore Parliament.
While the conflict may have frightened some tourists away, many have come to Nepal since the cease-fire, often to view or trek across the spectacular Himalayan mountains.

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