Divisions cloud meeting of Nepal's ruling Maoists

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KATHMANDU, Nov 21 (AFP): Nepal's ruling Maoists began a national meeting Friday to hammer out their political future, with leftist hardliners arguing for greater state control in all sectors.
The Maoists are now Nepal's largest party, after winning polls earlier this year, but ideological rifts have emerged between factions headed by Prime Minister Prachanda -- whose nom- de-guerre means "the fierce one" -- and senior ideologue Mohan Baidya.
The Maoists battled Nepal's security forces to a standstill over a decade of bloody civil war launched in 1996 to topple the monarchy and establish a communist state.
Since the peace deal that saw them place their fighters and weapons under United Nations monitoring, they have pushed through the end of the unpopular monarchy and embraced multi-party democracy.
But the transition from feared guerillas to Nepal's strongest political force has been tainted by persistent opposition accusations of violence and intimidation.