The guerrillas, who control much of the countryside and imposed a blockade on the capital Kathmandu for a week in August, also claimed to be raising more fighters for their "People's Liberation Army."

Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is better known as Prachanda, or "The Fierce," denounced Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as part of the "old order."

Deuba's government on Tuesday renewed a call for peace talks and said it was forming an experts committee to help arrange them.

"If there is reliable international mediation we are prepared to hold dialogue with the king directly but not with a mere servant of the old power," said a statement by Prachanda issued late Wednesday.

Nepal's civil war has claimed 10,000 lives since 1996. The Maoists have called in the past for talks to be supervised by the United Nations.

Prachanda said 100,000 people "are undergoing guerrilla war training."

"The People's Liberation Army has expanded from seven to nine brigades and from 21 to 29 battalions," he said without specifying the number.

Independent analysts estimate the Maoist fighting strength at fewer than 15,000.

The rebels lifted their blockade of Kathmandu on August 25 but said it would be reimposed in a month unless the government meets its demands, including an end to the guerrillas' classification as a terrorist group.

The blockade, enforced without any visible rebel presence, sent prices soaring in Kathmandu, even though there were no shortages of goods and thousands of vehicles defied the ban on traffic in and out of the capital.

Deuba is despised by the Maoists for leading a crackdown on the rebels after peace talks collapsed in November 2001.