Saturday, July 15 2006 11:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kathmandu: Top leaders of Nepal's ruling multi-party alliance and Maoists held a fresh round of informal talks here to discuss key issues of arms management, ceasefire monitoring and holding of constituent assembly elections in an effort to move the peace process forward.

During the seven-hour parleys at a luxury resort in eastern Kathmandu, the two sides also agreed to convene next round of meeting between their top leaders on July 21, Nepali Congress (NC) General Secretary Ramchandra Poudyal said after the talks, which were also attended by Maoist chief Prachanda.

Managing Maoists' arms, constituent assembly elections, rehabilitation of displaced persons and monitoring the ceasefire were the major issues which figured during the discussion in which top leaders of both sides were present, he said.

Besides Prachanda and Poudyal, those who attended the talks included second-in-rank Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai, NC Vice President Sushil Koierla and Nepal Communist Party-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal. The members of the negotiating teams of both the Maoists and government were also present.

"During the talks, Maoists agreed to return the assets they had seized from different people, help in rehabilitating those displaced due to the conflict and creating democratic environment in remote villages under their control," said Poudyal.

"The rebels agreed to instruct their cadre across the country regarding this," he said.