By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Nepal's communist rebels abducted 11 unarmed soldiers as they headed home from vacation, an army official said Saturday, despite offering the new government a three-month unilateral cease-fire.
The soldiers were taken captive on Thursday from Ramdittha village, about 500 kilometers east of Katmandu, according to Indresh Dahal, a spokesman for the Royal Nepalese Army.
The abduction came just hours after the rebels declared a three-month cease-fire, giving some breathing space to the reinstated Parliament following weeks of often violent protests against the king's royal dictatorship.