"The registration of the Maoist weapons and their soldiers in all the seven cantonment sites was completed on Saturday," said Kieran Dwyer, spokesman for the UN mission in Nepal.

The rebels agreed to UN monitoring at sites across the Himalayan nation in November last year as part of the peace deal to lay down arms and join the political mainstream.

The former rebels received 80 seats in a new 330-seat interim government's parliament in January, and the arms registration -- if accepted as accurate by the government -- is expected to pave the way for the Maoists to join the cabinet.

"The UN is preparing a full report on the result of the registration process and the report will be delivered to the government and the Maoists in a day or two," Dwyer said.

He declined to provide details about the number of registered People's Liberation Army soldiers and their weapons, saying the number would be revealed only after the UN had consulted with the former rebels and government.

But the Maoists on Sunday put the figure of soldiers registered at 32,000, well above other estimates that put the figure around 12,000.