Left to right: Home Minister Krishna Sitaula, Maoist spokesperson Krishna B Mahara, member of Maoist talks team Deb Gurung, and acting UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal Abraham Abraham at the handover of the letter.

Boots on the ground, it won't be. But a civilian UN operation to monitor arms and armies could begin in a matter of weeks, thanks to a joint invitation sent on Wednesday to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Maoist chairman Prachanda.

Annan announced in New York on Thursday that he was satisfied with the invitation. Contained in separate but identical letters signed by Koirala and Prachanda, the invitation is based on a five-point agreement asking the UN to deploy qualified civilian personnel to monitor and verify confinement of combatant armies and their weapons within designated cantonment areas. It also asks that modalities for all arrangements, including of arms and munitions, be worked out at a later date between the parties and the UN. The deal will confine both the PLA and Nepal Army in their respective barracks.

It now falls upon Annan, who has been using his "good offices" channel to nudge Nepal towards a peace settlement, to ask either the UN General Assembly or Security Council for an expanded UN mandate, sealing the world body's long-term involvement.