NEPAL’S prime minister resigned yesterday amid a power struggle over his firing of the army chief, saying he was stepping down to “save the peace process” that brought the Himalayan nation out of a decade-long civil war.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal announced his resignation on national television today after the president overturned his decision to fire the army chief.

NEPAL’S prime minister fired the army chief yesterday after accusing him of defying government orders, prompting a key party to quit the coalition government and plunging the Himalayan country into a political crisis that could endanger its peace process.

Nepal’s Maoist rebels, who have waged a decade-long war to seize control of the Himalayan nation, will join an interim government to be formed shortly, the rebels’ leader said today after meeting with top government officials.

Nepal’s king could end up being executed or exiled because of his refusal to relinquish power and restore democracy, the reclusive leader of the Himalayan kingdom’s communist rebels said today, 10 years after the insurgency began.

Communist rebels in Nepal today announced a unilateral ceasefire for the next three months to continue peace talks to end a decade-long civil war in the Himalayan nation.

Security forces fought rebels in a fierce gun battle today near India’s border with Nepal, leaving 21 dead in the first co-ordinated attack involving both Indian and Nepalese communist militants, police said.

AT least 14 people died in a fresh burst of violence in southern Nepal yesterday, after communist rebels lifted a two-week highway blockade that had crippled the flow of essential supplies in protest at the king’s recent power grab.

Maoist rebels fighting to topple Nepal’s monarchy attacked two remote towns, killing at least 56 security personnel and dimming prospects for peace talks.

The leader of Nepal’s communist rebels today offered a month long ceasefire in the six year guerrilla war after a week of fierce fighting in which the government said hundreds of combatants have been killed.

Maoist rebels killed at least 102 people, including policemen and troops, when they attacked a district headquarters and a nearby airport in northwestern Nepal, officials said today.

At least 48 policemen are thought to have been killed when suspected Maoist rebels attacked a district headquarters and a nearby airport in northwestern Nepal, police said today.