Maoist guerrillas Tuesday declared a three-day ceasefire to facilitate the smooth conduct of an international Buddhist conference in southwest Nepal.

They also withdrew a shutdown call given earlier protesting the killing of three cadres to allow smooth movements of the delegates to the second World Buddhist Summit, attended by religious leaders and officials from 26 countries, that began in Lumbini during the day amidst tight security.

The shutdown had been called in the entire Rupandehi district, where Lumbini is located.

The insurgents had reinforced their threat Monday night by setting off bomb explosions in some areas in Rupandehi and its eastern neighbouring district Nawalparasi. Though there was no damage, the blasts succeeded in heightening tension in the region.  

Earlier in the day, Maoist insurgents killed a civilian and injured four others elsewhere. 

Insurgents attacked a check post at Sindhupalchowk in northern Nepal injuring four people and killing a civilian who had come to acquire a citizenship certificate.

The three-day summit will be formally inaugurated Wednesday by King Gyanendra.

The state media had said the government employed over 3,000 security personnel to ensure there were no unwarranted incidents at Lumbini.

However, the Himalayan Broadcasting Corporation, a private radio channel, said public transport had gone off the roads because of the closure call. Security has been beefed up along the road leading to the domestic airport.

Even as the summit begins, a major partner of the coalition government, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist, is holding a meeting of its senior members to decide whether it should quit the Sher Bahadur Deuba government.

Last week, Deuba, in a public declaration, said if the rebels did not start talks by Jan 13, the government would go ahead with arrangements to hold parliamentary elections next year.

While the rebels spurned the deadline, Deuba's plan to go ahead with polls before peace is restored has been criticised by the opposition and government's own coalition allies, who rule out free and fair polls. 

--Indo-Asian News Service