New Delhi, May 25, SPA -- A rebel group fighting for a tribalhomeland in India's troubled northeast has signed acease-fire accord with the Indian government, raisingprospects of peace in the remote region, officials saidWednesday. The agreement was signed Tuesday between the federal andAssam state governments and the National Democratic Frontof Bodoland, said Home Ministry spokesman Abhishek Dayal. The group has been fighting for a separate homeland forthe Bodo tribe in Assam state since 1986. The Bodoscomprise nearly 2 million of the state's 26 million people. More than 10,000 people have died in separatist violenceover the past decade in the northeast, home to more than adozen militant groups, The Associated Press reported. The agreement was not made public Tuesday because HomeMinister Shivraj Patil, who was expected to meet withmilitant representatives on Wednesday in New Delhi, was outof town, Dayal said.--SPA1052 Local Time 0752 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/264939