Kathmandu: The chief Maoist negotiator for the Nepal peace talks said on March 30 the rebels were ready for dialogue at the earliest even as he reaffirmed their demand for scrapping of the Constitution and drafting a new one.

Baburam Bhattarai, the rebels' second-in-command, expressing ignorance over the statement by government peace co-ordinator Narayan Singh Pun that "goodwill meeting" between two sides would be held on April 1, said "we are prepared to begin talks at the earliest" but did not set any time-frame.

He demanded release of the group's five central committee members to create a conducive atmosphere for talks and reiterated the rebels' demand to scrap the Constitution.

"We no longer abide by the Constitution, we will scrap that and draft a new Constitution by holding constituent Assembly elections," Bhattarai told reporters.

"We are ready to accept the verdict of the constituent Assembly election even if we disagree with the outcome," Bhattarrai, who along with other leaders came out of hiding for the first time on March 29, said.

He said the rebels' three major demands - a round table conference, interim government and constituent Assembly elections - are "part of a single political process".

Bhattarai said the Maoists want to give "proper status" to the King if he is ready to make sacrifice for the country and the people.

PTI