Kathmandu, Sep 3 (IANS) Nepal's Maoist rebels defended their stand not to disarm in spite of mounting pressure at home and abroad, saying it was monarchy that was the cause of Nepal's woes, not their decade-old insurgency.

"People who want us to surrender arms are looking at Nepal from a wrong perspective," Maoist spokesman and former member of parliament Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

"The main problem of Nepal is monarchy and the army, not the Maoists. Nepal's problems will not be resolved till the first is abolished and the latter reconstituted."

Though Nepal's seven-party government is now urging the rebels to surrender arms, Mahara said it owed its very existence to rebel weapons.

"This government would not have come to power if we had not resumed arms," he said. "Its ministers would still be languishing in cold prison cells while King Gyanendra's ministers ruled the roost, legitimising their tenure by holding a mock election.'

The rebels are aggrieved by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's insistence on preserving monarchy, not dissolving parliament and keeping the Maoists outside the government till they lay down their arms.

"When we began the movement against King Gyanendra's absolute rule, the parties agreed to go with us," Mahara said. "But after the movement put them in power, we are concerned to see they are now going with the palace and foreign regressive powers who do not want peace and progress in Nepal.

"We smell a conspiracy in the attempt to linger over the talks. It is an attempt to sabotage the ultimate goal (to hold an election which would put monarchy to vote). We also smell a conspiracy in the way the government is creating a storm over our arms instead of addressing the entire gamut of issues."

Alarmed at the way peace talks with the government were foundering, Maoist leaders held an intensive meeting in Kavre district in central Nepal late last month to decide on their future strategy.

Accordingly, the guerrillas expanded their three-member talks team, which will now be headed by their chief Prachanda and will put counter-pressure on the seven-party government to resume parleys and come up with a comprehensive package in one sitting.

The Maoists want the next - and probably final - round of talks to be held within 10 days. If the government drags its feet, they have decided to begin a peaceful agitation like the protest in April that brought King Gyanendra's government down.

The rebels have also begun campaigning to form a democratic forum comprising political parties, intellectuals and members of civil society that would lead the protests if the talks fail.

The public ultimatum has already produced some effect with a minister saying the stalled talks would be held within a week.

Minister for culture, tourism and civil aviation, Pradip Gyawali, who is also a member of the government team interacting with the rebels, said the talks would focus on the status of the king till the election is held, how to hold the poll and how to manage the arms of both sides.