Nepal crisis talks end in deadlock

By Sushil Sharma
BBC correspondent in Kathmandu

The king is accused of being too powerful

A meeting between the Nepalese King and the main opposition leaders has concluded without agreement to end a stand-off over their democracy demands.

The meeting took place two weeks after Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa stepped down amid mounting calls for the restoration of democratic rule.

The five opposition parties say their protests will continue indefinitely.

They want the king to relinquish his executive powers and install a multi-party government.

Agitation campaign

A top opposition leader, Girija Prasad Koirala, said that he was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic" about an early solution of the crisis.

Mr Koirala was one of the five leaders who held a joint meeting with the monarch.

The parties they represent have been engaged in protests against the king over his assumption of executive powers after he sacked the elected government two years ago.

The parties said that their agitation campaign would continue until their demands were met.

Strikes calling for the restoration of democracy are commonplace

They want the king either to re-instate parliament or form an all-party government comprising their nominees.

They said that this is crucial to correct what they say was the king's unconstitutional move to dissolve parliament two years ago.

The king has ignored demands like this in the past, but his decision to bow to the demand for a joint meeting was seen as a climb-down.

Widespread disruption

Now the eagerly awaited meeting has taken place, it is not clear if the country's long-running political crisis will end soon.

Matters are complicated by the deep mistrust between the king and the parties.

Two royal governments have changed since the king took executive powers in October 2002: elections for local councils and to parliament are overdue by two years.

The only beneficiaries from the political confusion appear to be Maoist rebels, who have been fighting to get rid of parliamentary democracy and establish a one-party communist republic in the world's only Hindu kingdom.

Meanwhile, a second day of a three-day strike called by the rebels caused widespread disruption, with many schools, factories and businesses closed.