Kathmandu, Nov. 8: Nepal woke up to a new dawn after the peace accord between the ruling Seven-Party Alliance and the Maoists last midnight, but the architects of the historic deal struck a cautious note.

They urged people to remain alert as a country bleeding from a decade-old internal war picks up the threads and moves towards normality.

Fledgling peace made its presence felt in many ways, none more so than in Maoist leader Prachanda alias Pushpa Kumar Dahal addressing a news conference in a five-star hotel after 10 years of fighting in which 13,000 people died.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala spoke separately at his residence.

“The peace accord has sent out a positive message to the world: that we in Nepal can end conflict peacefully,” he said.

Elusive till the other day, the 52-year-old Prachanda said: “There are challenges to the agreement from reactionaries who want to see us fail.”

Koirala warned there was more work to be done and appealed for political unity. “The Maoists will renounce violence and join us to usher in a new Nepal. We will prove that every problem can be solved through dialogue rather than guns,” he said.

As evidence of the challenges ahead, hundreds of people took to the streets in Lalitpur district of the Kathmandu valley to protest against the Maoist diktat to provide food and shelter to cadre arriving in the capital to attend the first public rally to be addressed by Prachanda on Friday.

Prachanda, however, gave an assurance that his cadre would not force anyone. He said Friday’s rally had been cancelled and victory meetings would be held in the districts instead.

He urged the people to remain alert against any conspiracy that might be hatched against the accord. “The international community must be commended for its support to our efforts to develop a new Nepal,” he said.

Diplomats and human rights groups have criticised the rebels for continuing extortion, intimidation and kidnapping despite a truce.

The US echoed the sentiment. “The agreement must diminish the fear of violence, intimidation and extortion that the people of Nepal have endured over the past 11 years,” its embassy said.

India has backed the agreement and termed it a victory for the people of Nepal. “We welcome this significant step in Nepal’s democratic progress to a settled constitutional order in which the people of Nepal can realise their aspirations for peace and prosperity,” foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee said.