Nepal peace talks resume, rebel chief to meet PM

POKHARA, Nepal, June 15 (Reuters) Peace talks between Nepal's government and Maoists resumed today, with rebel chief Prachanda saying the process was picking up speed and that a long-awaited meeting with the prime minister was imminent.

Prachanda, speaking in an exclusive interview in western Nepal, said the peace process had been running into trouble until he held a productive meeting with the government's home minister and chief negotiator Krishna Prasad Situala on Sunday.

''There was a crisis of confidence. but after my meeting with the home minister it has been narrowed down,'' he told Reuters in Pokhara, shortly before talks resumed 200 km (125 miles) away in the capital Kathmandu.

The government and rebels have been observing a ceasefire for more than a month and held a first round of peace talks three weeks ago to end a decade-long insurgency that has cost 13,000 lives and shattered the tourism and aid-dependent economy.

The 52-year-old rebel chief, wearing a check shirt and spectacles and sporting a moustache, said he hoped the government would soon agree to dissolve parliament and set up an interim government which would include the Maoists.

That government would then hold elections to a special assembly to draw up a new constitution.

''There are still some serious differences with the seven political parties,'' he said. ''But after my talks with the home minister, the possibility of dissolving parliament has increased.'' More Reuters CH VV1629