Kathmandu, July 31 (DPA) The UN Friday expressed worries over delays in Nepal's peace process by squabbles among political parties.

Karin Landgren, chief of the UN Mission in Nepal, said it was a matter of urgent concern that progress in the peace process had fallen behind.

Landgren spoke in Kathmandu after briefing the UN Security Council ahead of its extension this month of the UN mission's term by another six months.

'The Security Council had before them the secretary general's report, covering a period in which the peace process remained stagnant on several fronts and during which trust, confidence and consensus among the parties deteriorated sharply,' Landgren said.

Nepal's two-and-a-half-year-old peace process was thrown into disarray after the collapse of the Maoist-led government in May following a power struggle with the president over the sacking of the army chief.

Since then, a major component of the peace pact - the integration of former rebel fighters into the army - has been stalled, which in turn has led to growing mistrust between the main political parties.

Landgren urged the parties to continue their cooperation so the peace process would not be obstructed.