Looks like the summit had a wide and interesting set of luminaries including Guiliani, former Labor leader Neil Kinnock and a whole bunch of others from varied fields. Prachanda did manage to get quite a bit of press it seems. ------------------------------- Also from the Hindustan times: - http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/leadership2006/ht_101106.shtml Shy rebel with a tough cause By all accounts, the man does not look even close to a tough-as-nails revolutionary, willing to shed blood for a cause. Instead, he has been described as mild, shy and avuncular. But Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly referred to by his nom de guerre of Prachanda (The Fierce One) is the undisputed leader of the Maoists and the supreme commander of their armed forces. In February 2006, the Maoist insurgent movement in Nepal completed a decade of organised opposition to the government. During these ten years, the armed conflict has claimed an estimated 13,000 lives. The 52-year-old former agriculture student, Prachanda, born in the Annapurna region of Nepal, has led the bloody 10-year war against the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan nation. He has kept his flock together as his outfit now prepares to join the government. It is rare for an underground, violent insurgent movement to change track and turn into a vehicle for a popular, peaceful change of government. While the last vestiges of the Shah dynasty of rulers in Nepal, particularly Gyanendra, must bear a great deal of the responsibility, the credit for seizing the opportunity of change, by transforming itself into a popular movement, would go to the course correction effected by Prachanda. But once it became clear, a year after Gyanendra assumed direct power, that the people of Nepal would no longer tolerate the King’s rule, the Maoists, led by Prachanda, sent out feelers to the multi-party movement for democracy, promising to cease violence while seeking an alliance against the monarchy. After the monarchy was all but overthrown and a seven-party alliance government came into being, the Maoists have actively engaged in a peace process to ensure the popular gains achieved during the “people’s movement” or “Jan Andolan” were not squandered away. Driving a hard bargain in direct “summit-level” talks with Nepal’s Prime Minister, Prachanda has ensured that Gyanendra is relegated to the fringes of Nepal’s polity. He has pushed to give themselves a better than “wild card entry” into the mainstream of Nepali politics. Agreeing to join the government on their terms and entering the political mainstream, the transition from revolutionary insurgents to a mainstream political outfit that is willing to shun violence and arms is largely at the behest of the man called Prachanda. Until recently, little was known about him. Nepalis knew Prachanda from only a couple of photographs, taken years ago in rural Nepal. The reclusive Maoist leader told the BBC in an interview in January that he has three daughters and a son, who all support the Maoist movement. His wife, whom he met through the party, is also a Maoist official. The former rebel leader was rarely seen in public and is believed to have frequently slipped between India and Nepal. When he gave his first ever television interview, to the BBC in January, Prachanda looked more like the school teacher he once was, moustached, bespectacled and with a slight paunch. The BBC's Charles Haviland, who conducted the interview, said he came across as surprisingly mild-mannered and shy — more humorous than intimidating and without the charisma of some revolutionary leaders. All this stands in sharp contrast to the perception of him as a ruthless leader responsible for executions and terrorising swathes of Nepal’s population. His number two, Baburam Bhattarai, with a cloth cap and eagle eyes, and often seen flanking Prachanda, fits more easily with the traditional view of what revolutionaries should look like. But in a sign that his mild manners could well conceal a tough interior, a year ago Prachanda expelled Dr Bhattarai and his wife from the party accusing him of being power-hungry. It took months to reinstate him. Yes, he was “saddened” by the death toll and by what he called the “accidental” death of children through bombs planted by Maoists. And the Maoists were “investigating” the shooting of a municipal election candidate and the killing of a taxi driver during a general shutdown. But another election candidate had been an “informer”, he insisted, liable to be tried by a Maoist court and possibly “executed”. The same applied to villagers whom the Maoists deemed to be helping the army. Prachanda derived his inspiration from Peru’s Shining Path rebels and dreamt of setting up a communist republic. He envisaged the erosion of class, caste and gender barriers. He has also been described as puritanical, outlawing alcohol, gambling and “vulgar literature” from India and the United States.