Maoists will get party status only if they lay down arms: Koirala

The Maoists "cannot be given the status of a political party ... until they give up weapons," Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said in the eastern city of Biratnagar, the Rising Nepal newspaper reported.

The rebels and an alliance of seven parties led mass protests in April that forced King Gyanendra to hand back power seized from lawmakers in February 2005. He has since been obliged to give up most of his powers.

"The Maoists must lay down their arms and we are trying our best to create the right kind of environment for that," Koirala said.

"Only after that they will be treated as the eighth party and only then will it be possible to move ahead jointly with them," he said.

Koirala said the government was awaiting the arrival of a UN team to speed up the drive to establish lasting peace in the kingdom where the rebels began their deadly insurgency to install a communist republic in 1996.

The Maoists have since said they were willing to accept multi-party democracy and join the political mainstream.

"The UN team will arrive shortly to address the issue of arms management," said Koirala.