Nepal's government and Maoist rebels failed to finalise a peace deal on Thursday as promised, but pledged to sign the landmark accord, meant to bring an end to a decade-long insurgency, next week.
Earlier, rebel chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who goes by the nom de guerre Prachanda, told Reuters he believed in peace but could not rule out a return to armed struggle.
The comments drew swift condemnation from the United States, which said the Maoists would remain a terrorist organisation until they gave up their guns and ended violence. Government and rebel negotiators said they hope to ink the peace deal by Tuesday, paving the way for the Maoists to join the interim government and for elections to a special assembly meant to draft a new constitution.
That in turn would satisfy the rebels' key demand, provided that the assembly abolished the centuries-old monarchy. "We have a political agreement to change the socio-economic conditions in a peaceful way - a peaceful transformation is possible now and armed conflict is going to be over," Prachanda said in an interview on a hilltop overlooking Kathmandu.
Richard Boucher, assistant US secretary of state for South and Central Asia, said his government wholeheartedly supported Nepal's peace process, but condemned the rebels for the continuing harassment of villagers, including violence, extortion, coercion and beatings.
"We are fully prepared to take them off our designation list of terrorist organisations when they stop being a terrorist organisation," he told a news conference in Kathmandu.