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. View the article in its entirety: http://start.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20050201/41ff0cd0_3426_133 5020050201-1852779233 ---------------------------------------------------------- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options ----------------------------------------------------------
