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# Tens of thousands crowd around Nepal king's palace

Tue Apr 25, 2006 5:15am ET

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Nepal's parliament has been dissolved since 2002, and Gyanendra assumed absolute power last year, declaring a state of emergency and vowing to crush the escalating Maoist rebellion.

Speaking on national television late on Monday, the king said he was calling back the assembly.

Impromptu victory celebrations erupted in Kathmandu and in other towns almost immediately.

"This victory is the people's victory, long live democracy," hundreds chanted on the streets, whistling and cheering.

The United States welcomed the move and urged a "ceremonial role" for the king.

Gyanendra had offered last week to give power to a prime minister nominated by the seven parties, but they said this was not enough. Monday's address went further in content and in tone.

The king said he was reconvening parliament "convinced that the source of state authority and sovereignty of the kingdom of Nepal is inherent in the people of Nepal, and cognizant of the spirit of the ongoing people's movement".

"For him to even acknowledge there was a people's movement, that really shocked me," said Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times.

(Additional reporting by Simon Denyer)

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##### Part victory, part protest on Nepal streets

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Nepal's capital on Tuesday after King Gyanendra announced a deal to end weeks of unrest, but the rally was part victory celebration and part continued protest.

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