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KATHMANDU, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Nepal's new Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand said on Saturday his interim government would invite Maoist rebels, fighting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, to peace talks before holding elections.

Chand's comments came as suspected rebels exploded a bomb in the heart of the capital Kathmandu, killing one passerby. It was the first casualty in a series of bomb attacks in the city in recent weeks.

Chand was appointed prime minister on Friday by King Gyanendra, who dismissed the previous prime minister and assumed power last week in a row over the timing of elections, which had been set for November.

"We will open a window to have a dialogue with the Maoists," Chand told Reuters in an interview. "We want to hold early elections but it is not possible next month."

Gyanendra's decision to sack the previous prime minister and assume power plunged the impoverished Himalayan nation into fresh turmoil. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the increasingly violent Maoist insurgency aimed at establishing one-party communist rule in the world's only Hindu kingdom.

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