Nepal's ruling Maoist party on Friday welcomed a US decision to remove it from a blacklist of terrorist groups after the end of a bloody insurgency, saying it would boost ties with Washington.
An estimated 16,000 people died in a brutal 1996-2006 "people's war" fought by the Maoists against the once absolute monarchy, before the rebels turned to politics and then took power in elections two years later.
Krishna KC, a Maoist who narrowly escaped death in his fight for political freedom, tells Al Jazeera his story in his own words.
