Kathmandu - The Nepalese government has begun formal negotiations with armed rebel groups in southern and eastern Nepal, a government minister said Friday.

The formal talks come after months of informal contacts between representatives of the government and dozens of armed groups operating in the Terai and eastern hill districts of the southern Nepalese plains.

"We have held the first formal meeting with a group calling itself Madhesi Virus Killers," said Janardan Sharma, the Minister for Peace and Reconstruction. "More formal talks with other groups will follow soon."

During the meeting, the government assured representatives of the Madhesi Virus Killers it would take full responsibility for the negotiators' security.

It also pledged not to target members of the rebel group in security operations during the entire period of negotiations.

"The group has agreed to suspend its armed rebellion during the peace negotiations," Sharma said.

The government also intensified its efforts to bring in other major armed groups for negotiations.

Official reports said the government and the Kirat Workers Party held unofficial talks on Thursday.

The Kirat Workers Party represents the ethnic Rai and Limbhu groups in eastern Nepal and was once a part of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which now heads the government.

The Kirat group has been involved in a series of attacks on government offices and has been accused of abduction and extortion.

The Nepalese government first made public appeals for armed groups to take part in negotiations in October.

The response has been slow but the government says more than 15 armed groups have already agreed to the talks.

However, major armed groups in southern Nepal, including the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha and the Terai Army, are yet to formally agree to the government offer.

Hundreds of people have been killed in an insurgency in southern Nepal since January 2007.

Repeated government attempts to end the fighting through negotiations have failed.

Meanwhile, a bomb explosion Thursday in Bara district, about 90 kilometres south of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, injured three people.

There have been no claims of responsibility for the blast, but police say they suspect involvement of armed groups in the region.

The blast coincided with the start of formal peace talks and could be a pressure tactic by the insurgent groups, police said. (dpa)