KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Maoist rebel leaders appeared to have patched up their differences on Monday as the party’s former deputy was reinstated to its high command after months out in the cold.

Babu Ram Bhattarai, the Maoists’ unofficial deputy leader who was regarded as head of a relatively “moderate” faction within the rebel movement, was stripped of his rank earlier this year after a power struggle with rebel chief Prachanda.

The Maoists have been fighting to overthrow Nepal’s constitutional monarchy since 1996 and replace it with a Communist republic.

There has been talk of divisions within the movement between moderates, who want to pursue a negotiated solution to the conflict, and hardliners favouring a military solution.

But the crux of the dispute between the two men seemed as much about Prachanda’s leadership style, Bhattarai accusing him of grabbing too much power for himself by running both the political and military wings of the movement.—Reuters