NSCN (I-M) leaders to meet PM on December 28

Decks have been cleared for the arrival of leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Issac-Muivah) to India.

The outfit's leaders, Th Muivah and Issac Chisi Swu, will arrive in New Delhi on December 27 and meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Kishenchand Advani the next day, official sources said.

While Muivah, who already possesses an Indian passport, will arrive from The Hague, Issac, who has been issued one, and three others will come down from Norway's capital Oslo.

Although no accord is likely to be reached, the talks with the Indian leadership are expected to boost the efforts to bring peace to Nagaland, the sources said.

The government has already acceded to the outfit's demand of allowing the ban on it to lapse beyond November 26. The case against Muivah for an alleged plot to assassinate Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir has been withdrawn.

Since the ceasefire accord between the Centre and the NSCN (I-M) in 1997, the two leaders have been holding peace talks with Centre's interlocutor K Padmanabhaiah and other Intelligence Bureau chiefs, including present Director K P Singh, in countries like The Netherlands and Thailand.