Nepal leaders, Maoists start fresh talks

Officials said the two sides, who signed a landmark peace deal last month to end a decade of civil war, were still at odds over who should be the Himalayan nation's new head of state -- with the Maoists hoping to end the reign of embattled King Gyanendra.

"The leaders will try to sort out the differences on some crucial issues, including who to be the head of the state in the interim period," Ramesh Lekhak, a government negotiator and Minister for Labour, told AFP.

King Gyanendra was stripped of most of his powers in May, after massive protests forced him to end direct rule.

Technically, he is still the head of state -- albeit with no power over the army and no political role.

Some members of the multi-party interim government are arguing the job should be left empty until scheduled elections next year for a constitutional assembly that will decide once and for all whether the 238-year-old monarchy should stay or go.

But the fiercely-republican Maoists want to see Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala -- the respected octogenarian architect of the peace deal -- or left-wing parliament speaker Subash Nemwang named as interim head of state, a move that would complicate the king's chances of a comeback next year.

Either way, the king looks set to temporarily lose his job.

Maoist negotiating team leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP that a further sticking point was the slow process of "arms management" -- implementing an agreement for the rebels to be confined to camps with their weapons and placed under United Nations supervision.

The UN has an initial batch of 35 monitors slated to arrive within the next few weeks, but is still some way off being able to monitor the tens of thousands of fighters the rebels claim they have.

The prime minister has warned the process, which will involve the rebels entering government and parliament, may not be able to move forward as long as rebels and their weapons roam free.

At least 12,500 people were killed during the rebel "people’s war" that officially ended with the signing of a peace accord. The former insurgents, however, still control large tracts of the countryside.