The
King Yields, Restores
Parliament In Nepal
By Associated Press
25 April, 2006
Associated Press
KATHMANDU: Nepal's embattled King Gyanendra on Monday
reinstated the lower house of Parliament and offered solace for those
killed in weeks of pro-democracy protests, hoping to avoid a bloody
showdown between his security forces and demonstrators.
``We extend our heartfelt
condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the people's movement,''
Gyanendra said in the address, broadcast on state television and radio.
The sound of celebratory
shouting and whistling could be heard in Kathmandu just minutes after
the speech, which he made at 11:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT).
Nepal's largest opposition
party welcomed the speech.
Gyanendra ``has addressed
the spirit of the people's movement'' and met the demands of the main
opposition seven-party alliance, said Ram Chandra Poudel, general secretary
of the Nepali Congress.
The reinstatement of Parliament
was a key demand of the alliance, which has been leading weeks of pro-democracy
protests that have brought Nepal to the brink of chaos.
Parliament's lower house
holds real elected power in the country's constitution. The upper house
is largely symbolic.
The speech came one day before
what was planned to be the largest protest yet.
``We are confident the nation
will forge ahead toward sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy
and national unity,'' Gyanendra said in the brief address.
Nation paralysed
by protests
Protests have rocked Kathmandu
and many other towns for nearly three weeks, and police have clashed
repeatedly with demonstrators demanding Gyanendra relinquish the absolute
power he seized 14 months ago when he dismissed an interim government,
saying he needed to bring order to the country's chaotic political situation
and crush a Maoist insurgency.
The protests and general
strike have paralysed the country, with the capital locked down by repeated
curfews, roads blocked by protesters and food and fuel increasingly
scarce.
Nepal's main political parties
and the Maoist insurgents, who have seized much of the countryside in
a decade of violence, launched the campaign on April 6.
On Monday, pro-democracy
protesters again faced off against security forces in Kathmandu.
Protests were also held in
dozens of towns across Nepal, according to local news reports, with
demonstrators blocking roads with barricades of chopped-down trees and
burning tires.
In the western resort town
of Pokhara, 10,000 protesters marched through the heart of the town,
including many government workers.
Six killed in clash
Also Monday, Nepalese security
forces in a mountain town fought back an attack by Maoist guerrillas
that left six people dead.
Five Maoist rebels and a
government soldier died after the guerrillas attacked security bases
and government buildings overnight in the north-central town of Chautara,
sparking gunbattles that lasted into Monday morning, said a statement
from Defense Ministry spokesman Indiresh Dahal.
Meanwhile, police fired tear
gas and rubber bullets Monday at a group of protesters marching along
the northern edge of the Ring Road, which circles the city. At least
seven people were injured, independent Kantipur radio reported.
Opposition parties said they
expected hundreds of thousands of people at Tuesday's planned protests.