In Nepal, three major political parties met in Kathmandu today in an effort to narrow down their differences to extend the term of the constituent assembly that will expire in the next two days. The meeting attended by the Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and top leaders of all the three major parties – Unified CPN(Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN(UML) ended inconclusively, deciding to meet again this evening after the Prime Minister sought some more time to hold further discussions with political parties.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, addressing a programme in Kathmandu today, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal expressed hope that the political parties will arrive at a consensus to extend the term of the constituent assembly to end the peace process and draft a new constitution.<br/><br/>While the opposition Maoists have been demanding resignation of the Prime Minister before extending the term of the constituent assembly, the two ruling parties – Nepali Congress and the CPN(UML) have been insisting on a package deal including fixing the number of Maoist combatants to be integrated into security forces before Prime Minister offers to quit.