Nepal peace talks postponed.

A second round of high-level peace talks between Nepal's recently reinstated government and Maoist rebels slated for Friday has been postponed due to lack of groundwork, a rebel spokesman said. "The second round of high-level talks scheduled to be held on Friday has been deferred for the next few days as necessary preparations have remained unfinished," Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP.Mahara, also head of the three-member rebel talks team, did not say when the talks would take place but said he hoped they would be held "within the next week."Nepal's government and the rebels have been observing a ceasefire for nearly three months.At the first meeting between Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and rebel leaders in mid-June, the two sides agreed to draft an interim constitution that would allow the rebels to join an interim government.Since then, progress on the constitution has been slow, but it is due to be completed by July 30, the drafting committee has said.This is the third time the rebels and government have tried to hammer out a peace deal. On two previous occasions in 2001 and 2003 talks broke down and the Himalayan nation was plunged back into conflict.King Gyanendra was forced to end a 14-month period of direct rule in April after Maoists in concert with sidelined political parties held nearly three weeks of protests that crippled the country.Since the rebels began their "people's war" in 1996, at least 12,500 people have been killed.

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