Nepal remembers royal massacre

Prayers and memorial services have been held across Nepal in memory of the late King Birendra.

King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and eight other royal family members were killed in a palace shoot-out, exactly two years ago.

An official inquiry blamed the massacre on a drunken Crown Prince Dipendra, who later died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Opposition parties have protested against the king's rule

The former king was succeeded as monarch by his brother, Gyanendra, who is now embroiled in a row with Nepal's political parties.

Prayers for his murdered brother have been overshadowed by a deepening political crisis over the assumption of executive powers, last year, by King Gyanendra.

Major opposition parties say the king's move was unconstitutional.

The parties had MPs in the last parliament which the king dissolved.

They are now holding protests to press for the re-instatement of parliament or an all-party government consisting of their nominees.

PM resigns

The opposition was bolstered last week by the resignation of Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, appointed after the king sacked the elected government eight months ago.

It has been two years since the king and queen died

King Gyanendra has started consultations with opposition leaders to discuss putting in place a new government.

Opposition parties want Madhak Kumar Nepal, the general secretary of one of the biggest opposition parties - the United Marxist-Leninist (UML) - to be named prime minister.

They say the top priority of the new government should be restoring parliament and ending a long-running Maoist insurgency.

The king is expected to make a decision soon.

The BBC's Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu says if King Gyanendra chooses to ignore the opposition's proposal, the confrontation could escalate.

Thousands of people have held protest rallies across the country in recent weeks.

The parties have vowed to step up the protests if their demand is not met.