Nepal's king dismisses government, assumes power, cuts nation off
from world
February 01, 2005 11:51 AM EST
KATMANDU, Nepal - King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal's government on
Tuesday and declared a state of emergency, cutting off his Himalayan
nation from the rest of the world as telephone and Internet lines
were snapped, flights diverted and civil liberties severely
curtailed.
The move was the second time in three years that the king has taken
control of the tiny South Asian constitutional monarchy, a throwback
to the era of absolute power enjoyed by Nepal's monarchs before King
Birendra, Gyanendra's elder brother, introduced democracy in 1990.
King Gyanendra denied his takeover was a coup, although soldiers
surrounded the houses of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other
government leaders.
The king also suspended several provisions of the constitution,
including the freedoms of press, speech and expression, the freedom
to assemble peacefully, the right to privacy, and the right against
preventive detention, according to a statement from the Narayanhiti
Palace.
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