KATHMANDU: A former Maoist guerrilla who led a decade-long insurgency against Nepal’s Hindu monarchy was on Sunday appointed prime minister for a third time, in alliance with the main opposition after last month’s election returned a hung parliament.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who still goes by his nom de guerre Prachanda - meaning “terrible” or “fierce” – will head the new government for the first half of the five-year term with the support of the opposition Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party and some other smaller groups, party officials said.