The Maoist negotiating team hasn't had a moment to spare as it made its high-profile comeback in Kathmandu this week. Baburam Bhattarai and Ram Bahadur Thapa have been giving back-to-back interviews to media, meeting political leaders and diplomats and reiterating their three-point demand for a roundtable conference, constituent assembly and an interim government. A rally in Tundikhel on Thursday, two months after the ceasefire agreement, was attended by about 15-20,000 supporters, mainly from outside the Valley. Bhattarai said: "It is today's hard reality that the king is a force to be reckoned with, and for now we need to negotiate with him...But if the talks fail we will go back to the jungle." The rally was a show of force timed to precede King Gyanendra's public felicitation in Dhangadi on Friday. Victims of Maoists also held a black-flag demonstration near Tundikhel to coincide with the rally, saying, "Stop terrorism once and for all, don't use the talks to grab power."