Since you were concerned about the future of the Nepalese Monarchy I thought I would bring you the latest news
P.S. I'll address your earlier response as soon as I get time - however I must admit that I didn't see much "new" there
Nepal's king gives in to demands
Monday, April 24, 2006; Posted: 7:06 p.m. EDT (23:06 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/0 ... index.html
Nepalese take to the streets in celebration after King Gyanendra said he would reinstate parliament.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- Celebrations have replaced protests in the streets of Nepal in the hours after King Gyanendra announced he was reinstating the parliament he dissolved in 2002, giving in to demands of an alliance of seven political parties that launched protests three weeks ago.
CNN's Satinder Bindra reported that people were "just overjoyed" by the royal proclamation. The streets were quickly filling with citizens in the early hours of Tuesday, he said.
King Gyanendra delivered his royal proclamation in a brief television appearance late Monday night, saying the parliament would convene Friday.
"Nepal people are the source of the sovereign," the king said. "Sovereignty of Nepal remains in the Nepali people."
Within an hour, the street celebrations began.
"People are coming out, hugging each other, giving high-fives and dancing," Bindra said.
The protests of the last three weeks paralyzed Kathmandu, causing shortages of food and goods, and forcing residents to shop during the brief times that the curfews were lifted.
King Gyanendra seized power 14 months ago, after accusing the government of failing to control the Maoists, who began their insurgency in 1996 with the goal of forming a communist government. At least 13,000 people have died.
As pressure mounted, the king gave a national address Friday and vowed to return executive political power "to the people." The king said he would support democratic elections, and would retain the status he had before he seized power in February 2005. (Full story)
Some of the hard-line demonstrators -- many of them young people -- scoffed at the king's Friday speech, and said they wouldn't stop their protests until King Gyanendra actually left office.
The chief of Nepal's Army, a key supporter of the king, said the Army would support a constitutional monarchy that would increase the parliament's power at the expense of the king's, Bindra reported.
Nepalese security forces engaged Sunday in an hours-long gunfight with Maoist rebels in eastern Nepal, a government source said.
There were no reports of casualties in the battle in the town of Chautara, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Kathmandu.
One soldier was killed in a clash with rebels in Nepal's eastern region of Sindhulpalchowk, authorities said. Security forces battled Maoists who attacked a police post and surrounding government buildings late Saturday. The fighting ended around 2 a.m. Sunday.
In the midst if the unrest, the U.S. Embassy ordered all non-emergency staff and family members to leave Nepal "out of concern for the safety of U.S. government employees and their families."
U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty also warned that all American citizens in Nepal should consider leaving the country, because of uncertain security conditions.
Monday's clashes in Basundhara, a neighborhood on the northern edge of Nepal, were smaller than on previous days, AP quoted the independent Kantipur radio as saying.
Daily demonstrations against Gyanendra's absolute rule had escalated in recent days, and 14 people have died as protests entered their third week. Police were ordered to shoot anyone who crossed into the city of 1.5 million.
In Geneva, a U.N. rights expert said Monday that Nepal must repeal the shoot-to-kill policy.
"Under international law, widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population are crimes against humanity," said Philip Alston, the United Nations' special investigator on illegal and arbitrary executions.
"The Nepalese government must immediately repeal its 'shoot-on-sight' policy for dealing with demonstrators," Alston said in a statement, AP reported.
"The government is, in effect, instructing its forces to shoot innocent people."