Senior Nepal rebel in Kathmandu to meet government

KATHMANDU, May 22 (Reuters) - A senior leader of Nepal's Maoist rebels has arrived in Kathmandu to meet government leaders and said today he had ''big hopes'' for proposed peace talks.

''We have come with the message that we can establish a peaceful and progressive Nepal,'' Krishna Bahadur Mahara told independent Nepal FM radio, a day after he arrived in the Nepali capital.

He is to head a three-member rebel team that will holds talks to prepare for a meeting between Maoist chief Prachanda and Prime Minister Girija Prasasd Koirala.

The premier was sworn in last month after at least 17 people were killed and thousands wounded during weeks of protests that forced King Gyanendra to end his 14-month-old absolute rule.

The popular upsurge led to the setting up of a multi-party government and the country's parliament being reinstated.

The new parliament approved a plan to hold elections for a special assembly to decide the future of monarchy, a key rebel demand to end their civil war.

''We have come with big hopes this time,'' said Mahara, who is yet to emerge in public.

The government has chosen Home (interior) Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula to participate in the talks.

Previous peace talks with the rebels collapsed in 2001 and 2003 over the future of monarchy.

Mahara said the government was not serious then.

''This time the situation is different,'' he said. ''We hope that we don't have to take up arms again.'' The Maoists, fighting to turn Nepal into a communist state, agreed to talks after the multi-party cabinet matched a unilateral truce they had declared.

More than 13,000 people have died since the Maoists began their anti-monarchy revolt in 1996.

Last week, the parliament approved sweeping curbs on the king's powers, including his control over the army.

REUTERS CH VC1120