Political Crisis deepens in Nepal

Nepal edged closer to political crisis Thursday with the prime minister confirming a threat to resign at the weekend ahead of a deadline to revive the country's stalled peace process.

Premier Jhalanath Khanal had threatened to step down on August 13 barring movement on two key areas of the process -- the drafting of a new constitution and the integration of former Maoist combatants into the Nepal army.

"The hope was that there would be concrete progress," Surya Thapa, the prime minister's press adviser told reporters on Thursday."But that does not seem to be the case. Therefore, the prime minister stands by his pledge to resign from the office if there is no progress by Saturday," he said.

Khanal, from the Unified Marxist Leninist party, was elected by lawmakers in February after seven months of parliamentary deadlock that left Nepal without a leader.

He heads a fragile coalition government of three parties, including the Maoists who comprise the largest party in parliament.

His decision on August 1 to appoint nine Maoist lawmakers to his cabinet was sharply criticised by the opposition Nepali Congress and his own party.

They accused Khanal of bowing to pressure from the Maoists who had threatened to withdraw support from the government and trigger its collapse if they weren't given the cabinet berths.