Kathmandu: Nepal's Maoists will be named as part of an interim government after their arms are locked in stores under UN supervision, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said on Monday.
Last month, the government and Maoist guerrillas signed a landmark peace deal declaring an end to a decade-old conflict in which more than 13,000 people have died.
The deal envisaged the Maoists joining an interim cabinet and confining their fighters to camps, as well as locking arms in containers monitored by the United Nations.
But uncertainty over the storage of weapons and jockeying between the former rebels and the political parties meant that a December 1 deadline for the Maoists to join the interim government was missed.
''The interim government will be formed after the arms management. There will also be an interim parliament then,'' 85-year-old Koirala said on Nepal Television.
The United Nations says that up to 35 monitors are likely to begin work this month but adds the full monitoring mission will take more time. It has not given a specific time frame.
Koirala said elections for a special assembly to map the Himalayan nation's political future and decide the fate of the monarchy would be held in June 2007.
The assembly is a key demand of the Maoists who have been fighting since 1996 to overthrow the monarchy. King Gyanendra was forced to cede absolute power in April after mass protests supported by the parties and the rebels.
Under the deal, the state army will also be confined to barracks and an equal number of its arms stored.
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