State of emergency as Nepalese king fires ministers

[emad]

Guardian

Staff and agencies
Tuesday February 1, 2005


Nepal's king has today sacked his government and declared a state of emergency.

Gyanendra, who assumed the throne in 2001 when his brother, the former king, was killed in a massacre, denied that the move was a coup. However, soldiers surround the prime minister's house as armoured cars patrol the country's capital, Kathmandu.

In an announcement on state-run television, the king accused political parties of plunging the Himalayan kingdom into crisis by failing to hold elections or end the civil war with Maoist rebels.

"I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April and promote democracy, the sovereignty of the people and life and property," Gyanendra, 55, told viewers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1403180,00.html

DOES he bank at RIGGS, I wonder.....

[htuttle]

1. I'm a bit surprised he didn't pepper them with machine gun fire...

...like the last time.

[Newsjock]

2. It seems to be bigger than the initial report

Follow-up from the AP:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2005/02/01/international0722EST0493.DTL

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's government and imposed a state of emergency on Tuesday, cutting off his Himalayan nation from the rest of the world as telephone and Internet lines were severed, flights diverted and civil liberties severely curtailed.

... In an announcement on state-run television, the king accused the government of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and being unable to restore peace in the country, which is beset by rebel violence.

Gyanendra also suspended several provisions in the constitution including the freedoms of press, speech and expression; the freedom to assemble peacefully, the right to privacy, the constitutional protection against news censorship, and the right against preventive detention, according to a statement from the Narayanhiti Palace.

... In Katmandu, armored military vehicles with mounted machine guns were patrolling the streets of Katmandu, the capital, and phone lines in the city had been cut. Many flights into Katmandu were canceled amid the uncertainty or turned back by Nepalese authorities, although the airport remained open.