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First of all the latest news by BBC World(6.16, 4:30pm, CET):

"The parliament is to dissolved. A interim parliament is planned, including CPN-M(Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, the bourgeois media just call them 'Maoists')."

Maoists poised to join Nepali government
(Guardian, 6.16)

The leader of Maoist rebels in Nepal was meeting the country's prime minister on Friday for historic talks that could see the Maoists joining the government and the two sides deciding to hold elections later this year.

In a highly significant political development which could formally end a bloody decade-long internal war, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda (Fierce One) met the prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, this morning amid heavy security at his official residence.

They were joined by their negotiating teams, and a source in Kathmandu maintained that the two sides had taken ground-breaking decisions affecting the political future of the nation.

It is expected that the Maoists will join the government and elections will be called for the Constituent Assembly which will adopt a new constitution and decide whether or not to retain what has now been virtually reduced to a ceremonial monarchy.

A solution may be imminent also for the tricky issue of what to do with the arms possessed by the insurgents in the period leading up to the elections.

The Maoists have been demanding that they should be treated on par with the Royal Nepalese Army, with whom they have engaged in bloody battles for more than four years. But the Maoist rebels may agree to surrender their arms under UN supervision providing the international body also monitors all army activity during the elections.

One external stumbling block for this proposal could be objections from India, which has always been opposed to any UN intervention in its neighbourhood. But New Delhi is said now to have agreed to make an exception in Nepal's case, since the political instability in the Himalayan nation has wider ramifications in the region.

Nepal had been trapped in an extended political crisis until April this year, when King Gyanendra reluctantly agreed to reconvene the country's sacked parliament, appoint a new, seven-party government and surrender his powers.

But the vexed question of bringing the armed Maoists into the political mainstream and ending the insurgency still remains unresolved, with the rebels pushing hard for a new constitution and an end to the monarchy.

"A lot of groundwork has been done before today's meeting between GP [Koirala] and Prachanda, and the two leaders appear to have an excellent rapport," said the source from Mr Koirala's ruling Nepali Congress party. "There's broad agreement on major issues, and some solution will also be found to break the deadlock on the monarchy question."

Some of these decisions were taken at the second round of talks between government and Maoist negotiators held in the capital on Thursday. In an effort to boost the peace process, it was decided to adjourn parliament for 18 days, meeting halfway Prachanda's demand for its dissolution.

Thursday's talks at a hotel in Kathmandu, when the Koirala-Prachanda 'summit' was also announced, had apparently been preceded by several secret meetings. The two sides appear to be following a shrewd strategy, thrashing out differences in secret and appearing in the media glare for formal "talks" only when they have something concrete to announce.

The Koirala-Prachanda meeting appears to have been similarly planned. Even though the media believes this is the first-ever "historic" meeting between the two leaders, they are said to have quietly met at least once earlier, and got along well enough to be able to trust each other. As a result, even the sharp differences over the future of the monarchy between the two leaders may find a resolution.

"In any case, though GP believes Nepal needs a ceremonial monarchy, he is ready to accept whatever decision the Constituent Assembly takes on this issue," said the party source.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1799362,00.html

eKantipur reported this today afternoon:

Govt-Maoist summit talks conclude with an eight point agreement

The Summit talks between the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) government and top Maoist leaders held in the Prime Minister's Residence at Baluwatar has concluded with an eight point agreement.

Nepal PM and rebel leaders meet

(Washington Post/Reuters, 6.16)

Nepal's Maoist rebel chief Prachanda began talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Friday in a bid to iron out differences before holding landmark elections and drafting a new constitution. The talks in Kathmandu between Koirala, who heads a multi-party, interim administration, and Prachanda was the first known high-level meeting between the rebels and the government since the revolt began 10 years ago.

"The main agenda for the meeting is to discuss early elections for the constituent assembly and solve the political hurdles for this," rebel spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

Prachanda, whose assumed name means Awesome, has led a bloody war against the monarchy in the impoverished Himalayan nation in which more than 13,000 people have been killed.

Speaking to Reuters in a rare interview in western Nepal on Thursday, he said peace talks with the government which started in May were largely back on track after initial troubles.

But differences remained over a Maoist demand for the dissolution of the reinstated parliament before elections for a special assembly to draft a new constitution that would decide the future of monarchy, he said.

On Friday, Prachanda flew into Kathmandu in a private helicopter and drove straight to Koirala's high-security official residence in the heart of the capital.

He was accompanied by his second-in-command, Baburam Bhattarai, and Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula as they arrived at Koirala's house.

Soldiers behind sandbag bunkers kept vigil while dozens of Maoist guerrillas in plainclothes, and apparently unarmed, prevented media cameramen from taking pictures.

The government and the rebels are observing a ceasefire for more than a month after weeks of street protests in April forced King Gyanendra to end his absolute rule and hand power back to political parties.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/16/AR2006061600104_pf.html

Nepalese leader and rebel chief meet for talks

(IHT/AP, 6.16)

The elusive leader of communist rebels in Nepal flew to the capital Friday and held an unprecedented meeting with the prime minister aimed at resolving the country's decade-old insurgency, an official said.
 
The rebel leader, Prachanda, and a deputy were escorted into the residence of Prime Minster Girija Prasad Koirala in Katmandu under heavy security, a Koirala aide said on condition of anonymity.
 
It was the first meeting between Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and the country's top leader since the insurgency began in 1996.
 
Reporters and photographers who were camped outside Koirala's house were not allowed near the cars transporting the rebels. It was not clear how long the meeting would last.
 
"The meeting between the prime minister and Prachanda will center on settling major political issues," Tourism Minister Pradeep Gyawali, who is also member of the government peace talks team, had said before the meeting.
 
Government and Maoist rebel negotiators had met Thursday for a second round of peace talks.
 
"We have decided that there will soon be a meeting between top Maoist leaders and leaders of the seven-party ruling alliance," Home Minister Krishna Sitaula said after Thursday's meeting. "They will decide on the major issues."
 
Prachanda used to be rarely seen, and only then in the remote villages controlled by the rebels.
 
At the two-hour peace talks Thursday in the capital, rebel and government representatives agreed to form a monitoring committee comprising peace activists and human rights workers, with help from the United Nations.
 
The first round of talks to end the conflict took place last month when the two sides agreed on a code of conduct and said they would meet for talks again.
 
The new government in Nepal took office after King Gyanendra agreed to relinquish control in April following weeks of anti-monarchy protests and a general strike.
 
The unrest was organized largely by the politicians now in power and backed by the rebels - a bond that smoothed the way for the peace dialogue.
 
The new government has released hundreds of rebels from jail, dropped terrorism charges against them, and agreed to a cease-fire. It also has agreed to rewrite the constitution, a key rebel demand that crippled peace talks in 2001 and 2003.
 
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by the Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, began fighting to replace the constitutional monarchy with a communist state in 1996.
 
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/16/news/web.0616nepal.php

Meanwhile just three days ago..

..Nepal scraps anti-terror laws

(CNN/AP, 6.13)

Hundreds of communist rebels to be freed from jails

Nepal's government has scrapped anti-terrorism laws and withdrawn cases against hundreds of jailed communist rebels after rebel leaders met with a government minister, officials said.

Several Maoist rebels had been freed since the government and the rebels declared a cease-fire and began peace talks in the past few weeks. However, hundreds had remained in jail charged under the anti-terrorism laws.

The Cabinet met and decided anyone arrested or imprisoned under a tough anti-terrorism law imposed by the previous royal government would be freed, Information Minister Dilendra Badu said told reporters Monday after the meeting.

Rebel spokesman Krishna Mahara confirmed that the government had pledged to free 350 of their jailed members and supporters starting Monday.

The Cabinet decision followed a meeting between Home Minister Krishna Sitaula, and rebel leader Prachanda and his deputy Baburam Bhattarai at a remote mountain village on Sunday.

"The meeting has cleared all doubts and confusion that appeared to have obstructed the peace talks," Mahara told reporters Monday in the capital, Kathmandu.

He said the two sides had been at odds since the first round of peace talks between the government and rebel negotiators last month -- the first since they declared a cease-fire.

Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, has accused the government and ruling seven-party alliance of focusing on minor issues rather than key elements of the peace process, such as creating a more inclusive interim government.

The anti-terrorism laws were enforced by the previous government of King Gyanendra to hunt down and prosecute rebels.

Many rebels had been charged with murder, kidnappings and crimes against the state under the anti-terrorism laws.

Weeks of street protests by the alliance of seven major political parties forced Gyanendra to give up powers, reinstate Parliament and appoint Girija Prasad Koirala as prime minister in April.

Since then, the new government and the rebels have declared a cease-fire and have been holding peace negotiations to end the conflict that has killed more than 13,000 people.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/06/12/nepal.terror.laws.ap/index.html

A BBC portrait for CPN-M chairman Prachanda(independent stuff about him is not to find until now..):