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KATHMANDU, March 12 (AFP) - Britain's special representative for Nepal's peace process Jeffrey James Wednesday met Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, officials said.

During the meeting in Kathmandu they discussed the ceasefire announced by the government and Maoist rebels on January 29, foreign ministry officials said.

James, a former high commissioner (ambassador) to Kenya, arrived in Nepal earlier this week to coordinate UK and international efforts in support of the peace process. He is expected to brief the media on Friday.

British ambassador to Nepal Keith George Bloomfield was also at the meeting.

The government and the Maoists are working to finalize a "code of conduct" ahead of starting peace talks.

But the talks process could be complicated by the political turmoil which has hit the Himalayan kingdom since King Gyanendra sacked the elected prime minister in October and appointed Chand, a staunch royalist, as head of an interim government.

The Maoists, as well as most main political parties, believe Chand does not have a mandate to negotiate with them.

The Maoist insurgency launched in 1996 for a communist republic has claimed more than 7,800 lives.

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