The guerrillas Communist Party of Nepal on Wednesday formed a three-member team to hold peace talks with the government, local media source said.

"The guerrillas formed the team on the final day of the three- day central committee meeting held at an undisclosed part of Far Western Nepal along the Nepal-India border," Chitranga Thapa, a local journalist of Kantipur vernacular national daily, said.

"The team, headed by guerrillas Spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara, includes other leaders Dinanath Sharma and Dev Gurung," Thapa, quoted guerrillas source as saying.

Several guerrillas' leaders including Chairman Prachanda attended the meeting, Thapa revealed.

However, there hasn't been any formal statement from the side of the guerrillas as yet regarding their negotiation team.

Earlier, the guerrillas and the government in separate talks in 2001 and 2003 had failed to draw any conclusion.

Welcoming the government ceasefire and withdrawing of various charges on the guerrillas, the rebels last week said they were ready to come to the talks table to end the decade-old insurgency that has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Prachanda in his statement on May 4 said, "We hope talks this time will not fail."

Source: Xinhua