(22 Nov 2006)
1. Wide of people rallying at Katmandu's Ratna Park, holding 8-Party Alliance (EPA) flags
2. Mid of flags, (some Maoist) on top of wooden structure
3. Mid of drummers in the rally
4. Man carrying Party flag
5. Mid of people waving flags
6. SOUNDBITE (Nepali): Ishwar Pokharel, Leader of Nepal Communist Party (UML):
"This is a change brought about by Nepali people after centuries of struggle. We have opened the door and stepped out."
7. Mid of people chanting slogans
8. Young people singing and beating drums in the march
9. Girls in rally
10. SOUNDBITE (Nepali): Anish Sharma Dhugana, Vox pop:
"If anyone goes against this agreement, the people will not spare them."
11. People singing and dancing
12. People marching with flags
STORYLINE:
Nepal celebrated the end of a bloody 10-year communist insurgency by declaring a public holiday on Wednesday, as the international community hailed the deal under which communist rebels will join an interim government.
Thousands took to the streets in celebratory rallies around the country.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist rebel leader Prachanda signed the accord on Tuesday at a Katmandu convention hall packed with cheering officials, dignitaries and foreign diplomats.
The agreement came after months of negotiations that centred on how to disarm the rebels and bring them into the government, which they helped bring to power by backing mass protests in April against the rule of King Gyanendra.
Schools, offices and businesses were closed on Wednesday after the government declared a public holiday.
Small rallies in support of the accord were held on Wednesday morning, with more expected later in the day.
"This is a change brought about by Nepali people after centuries of struggle. We have opened the door and stepped out," said Ishwar Pokharel, Leader of Nepal Communist Party (UML).
In the capital, Katmandu, thousands of political activists and the general public gathered in the heart of the city waving banners and chanting slogans
in celebration.
"Victory is ours. Long live people's democracy and peaceful Nepal," chanted the participants.
"If anyone goes against this agreement, the people will not spare them," said one of those rallying in the capital.
The United Nations - which will provide monitors at camps being set up under the deal where rebel fighters and their weapons will be locked up - said the accord was a key step forward in the peace process.
World leaders welcomed the agreement.
More than 13,000 people were killed before a cease-fire was declared in April following the weeks of mass pro-democracy protests that forced Gyanendra to restore Parliament, which he had usurped 14 months earlier.
The accord came a day after a government commission blamed Gyanendra for the brutal crackdown on the April protests that left 19 people dead, and recommended he be punished.
Under the deal, the rebels will join the interim parliament by November 26 and will get 73 of the chamber's 330 seats.
Koirala's Nepali Congress will remain the biggest party with 85 seats, and the Maoists will share second place with the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist).
The rest of the seats will be held by other smaller parties.
The Maoists' large number of seats is sure to give them a significant role in a new interim government, which is to be in place by December 1.
Officials were still working out the details of how the administration would be set up.
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