Tuesday, February 01, 2005 1:51 a.m. ET
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed power himself on Tuesday, saying the leadership had failed to hold elections or restore peace amid an escalating civil war with Maoist rebels.
Indian television channel NDTV said the king had taken power for the next three years and placed many politicians under house arrest.
"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," the king said in an address on state radio.
Shortly afterwards telephone and mobile lines were apparently shut down in Kathmandu and communications links closed between the country and the rest of the world.
No further details were available.
The strategic Himalayan nation sandwiched between India and China is locked in a bitter three-way struggle among the king, the Maoist rebels and political parties who are often bitterly divided among themselves.
The king is often accused of overstepping his powers, and reappointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba only last June, two years after sacking him for the same reasons he cited this time -- inability to tackle the long-standing revolt against the monarchy and failure to call an election.
In January, Deuba had promised to go ahead with the election despite the civil war and the refusal of the Maoists to come to peace talks by a Jan. 13 deadline.
But many members of Deuba's own cabinet were known to be unhappy with the election plan on grounds it was unrealistic in a country where the rebels control much of the countryside.
The rebels have been fighting since 1996 to replace the monarchy with a communist republic in a revolt that has cost around 11,000 lives.
The king himself had promised that elections would begin by the start of the Nepali new year in mid-April. Indian television said he accused political parties of factional fighting.
This is the fourth time the king has sacked a prime minister in less than three years. Nepal has had no parliament since 2002.
Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations and its only Hindu kingdom. Many people still view the king as a reincarnation of the god Vishnu.
But the monarchy's reputation nosedived in 2001 when the crown prince, Dipendra, killed his father, the popular King Birendra, and several other royals in a palace massacre. He then turned the gun on himself.
Gyanendra was crowned king after the massacre, but has never been as popular as his brother Birendra.
Tens of thousands of tourists visit Nepal each year as it has eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest.
Copyright ? 2003 Reuters Limited.
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