KATHMANDU: Political differences between Nepal’s political leaders and communist rebels could be easily resolved if the guerrillas lay down their arms, lawmakers say, but the Maoists remained sceptical as peace talks dragged on.

The negotiations, involving Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, leaders of the ruling seven-party alliance and rebel chief Prachanda, resumed on Sunday in Katmandu.

Hundreds of activists, meanwhile, protested outside the prime minister’s official residence in Katmandu where the talks are taking place.

The peace process, aimed at ending a 10-year insurgency, had been stalled for four months on the issue of weapons management.

In June, the political parties and rebels agreed that the communists should be allowed to join an interim government in return for surrendering their weapons, but no progress has been made on either front.

“If the two sides are able to make headway on the issue of the rebels’ weapons, most of the political differences can easily be resolved,” said Ramesh Lekhak, labour minister and a member of the government peace talks team.

“We want the Maoists to transform themselves into a democratic and legitimate force by giving up their arms-based politics. We can reach an understanding on every issue if they assure us that weapons are not used for political purposes,” said Mahesh Acharya from the Nepali Congress, the Himalayan nation’s largest party.

But the rebels expressed reservations.

“We suspect the government is backing away from its previous flexibility and appears more rigid on the issue of arms management. They are trying to force us to surrender arms in the pretext of separating them from our fighters, which is unacceptable to us,” said Dev Gurung, a member of the rebel team.

“We want the ruling alliance and the rebel leaders to take decisions on crucial political issues immediately,” said Devendra Raj Panday, a peace activist, who is also an independent observer in the talks.

Hundreds of protesters outside the peace talks venue carried banners demanding an end to monarchy rule in Nepal, an immediate announcement of a date for election to a special assembly that would make a new constitution and promulgation of an interim statute to govern the country until the elected assembly makes the constitution. “We will continue our protests until the leaders resolve the issues,” said Sundarmani Dixit, an activist among the protesters.

More than 13,000 people have died in the communist insurgency since it began in 1996.

The government and rebels declared a cease-fire and began peace talks in April. At their last meeting on June 15 it was agreed that an interim constitution would be put in place within a month, and that the rebels would join the interim government.

Neither pledge has been followed through. Instead, the two sides have exchanged accusations of ceasefire violations, and the rebels have threatened to launch anti-government protests.—AP