Kathmandu - The Nepalese government is to provide compensation to family members of those killed in the communist insurgency and release unpaid wages to Maoist fighters, official reports said Wednesday.

The government's decision followed a World Bank assistance offer of nearly 3.04 billion rupees (44.96 million dollars) as part of the bank's Emergency Peace Support Programme, the official Rastriya Samachar Samiti news agency said.

The news agency quoted the Nepalese Ministry for Peace and Reconstruction as saying that family members of those killed during the decade-long communist insurgency would receive 100,000 rupees as immediate compensation.

Last month, the government said widows of people killed in the insurgency, displaced families and people injured or disabled as a result of the war would be on a priority list for receiving government compensation.

The ministry also announced it was to resume payments for Maoist fighters who passed the UN's verification process and remain in camps as part of the 2006 peace agreement between the government and the Maoist rebels.

The decision would affect just over 19,000 Maoist fighters who are to receive 40,000 rupees each as salary for the past 13 months.

The non-payment of the Maoist fighters had become a major concern in Nepal with the former guerilla fighters threatening to leave the UN-monitored camps.

The World Bank assistance will also be used for supporting those affected by the conflict, as well as employment-generation programmes for former rebel fighters to integrate them into society.

The Maoists formally gave up fighting after signing a peace deal with the government in November 2006. They emerged as the single-biggest party in Nepal's constituent assembly following elections in April and have been asked by Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav to form a new government.

However, the Maoists are short of a majority to form a government on their own, and were unable to form a coalition government to date.

The decade-long communist insurgency left nearly 14,000 people dead and more than 250,000 others displaced from their homes. (dpa)