Friday, August 18 2006 10:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kathmandu: Maoist rebels will not be included in Nepal's interim Government until and unless their arms are managed under UN supervision, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said.

It would not be appropriate to bring the Maoists with the arms they are carrying into the political mainstream, Koirala told reporters at his home town Biratnagar Wednesday.



"How can we rush to the interim government and the constituent assembly elections without managing the Maoists arms?" he said.

Koirala also made it clear that the House of Representatives would not be dissolved unless the Maoists' arms are managed under the United Nations supervision.

The Maoists are demanding that the reinstated House should be dissolved immediately before they joined the Government.

Koirala said a UN monitoring team would arrive in Nepal within a couple of weeks to start the process of managing arms and monitoring the ceasefire.

The Nepalese Government and the Maoists had earlier sent a joint letter seeking the UN's assistance to move ahead the peace process.

Koirala, who is taking rest in his home town, also instructed local administration chiefs to make every possible effort to ensure that people in general experience peace and security.

Restoring peace and maintaining law and order was the priority of the present Government and so there should not be any shortcomings in this regard, the Premier said while talking to chiefs of security agencies and administrative bodies in Sunsari district in east Nepal.