Katmandu, March 31. (AP): Haggling over the Cabinet Ministers' rank has delayed the formation of an Interim Government that includes Maoist former rebels _ a key step in a peace process that ended a decade-long civil war in Nepal, officials said on Saturday.

A formal announcement on the new Government was scheduled for Saturday. But Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party and the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist, a mainstream political party not affiliated with the Maoist ex-rebels, clashed over which party would get the deputy Prime Minister role, said Dev Gurung, a legislator representing the former rebels at the meeting.

Gurung said, the leaders would meet again on Sunday morning to try settle the difference and formally announce the new Government.

Formation of the new Government has been eagerly awaited in Nepal, because the Maoists' inclusion in the Government is part of the peace process that began last year.

Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat said earlier that it has already been decided which parties will take on which Ministries, but the names of the ministers had yet to be finalized.

The landmark agreement on the form of a joint Government was reached late on Friday in a meeting between Koirala, leaders of the seven ruling parties and Prachanda, the leader of the former rebels. Prachanda goes by a single name.

Koirala is to continue as Prime Minister in the new Government.

The Government and rebels signed a peace agreement in November, halting a Maoist insurgency that killed more than 13,000 people.

Since then, the rebels have locked up their weapons, confined their fighters in U.N.-monitored camps and joined the Parliament.

The Interim Government will hold elections later this year for a Special Assembly that will rewrite the constitution and decide whether Nepal, which has long been a constitutional monarchy, will continue to have a king.