Nepali PM moves to rescue peace deal

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala also met with the ambassadors from India and Britain, and was trying arrange talks with Maoist rebel leaders Tuesday, said Ramesh Lekhak, a minister and member of the government's team of peace negotiators.

"The prime minister has begun serious consultations and he is determined not to let the Maoists leave peace negotiations at any cost," Lekhak said.

Baburam Bhattarai, the Maoist rebels' second-in-command, warned Monday that peace talks were falling apart because of repeated violations of an earlier agreement with the government.

Lekhak said attempts were under way to reach an understanding with the rebels over the issue of weapons management and to draft a joint letter to the United Nations. UN peace negotiators who visited Nepal last week gave the two sides until the middle of this week to come up with an agreement before the UN would decide whether to step in as a mediator.

The peace talks have stalled mainly because the guerrillas have refused to disarm and disband.

The government wants the rebel weapons to be locked up before proposed elections, but the insurgents say they will only allow the UN to oversee their safekeeping inside secured camps.

Bhattarai has warned that if the talks collapse, the rebels would resume their fight.

It was the first such public warning since negotiations began earlier this year. The talks started after weeks of street protests, organized by an alliance of political parties and backed by the rebels, forced King Gyanendra to give up authoritarian rule and reinstate Parliament in April.