Nepal king in rare public speech

King Gyanendra has recently kept a low profile

The king of Nepal has made his first public statement since April, when mass protests forced him to give up absolute rule and reinstate parliament.

He spoke of his hopes for peace talks between the Maoists and the government.

In a message marking the Hindu festival of Dasain, he said the success of the process was the need of the nation and what the people aspired to.

But no representatives of any political parties paid a courtesy visit to the monarch, as is customary at Dasain.

Political isolation

"The success of the ongoing peace process is the need of the nation at this hour," King Gyanendra said in an English statement on the Hindu nation's most important religious holiday.

The king extended his best wishes to all Nepalis and said he hoped that the "Goddess Nava Durga Bhavani would inspire us all to move ahead on the strength of national unity and reconciliation".

Correspondents say the king's political isolation was apparent as the prime minister and cabinet broke with tradition and decided not to go to the palace for a ceremony to receive "tika" blessings - in the form of red vermillion paste on the forehead - from the king.

"Now that the king has been politically sidelined, we don't think we need to go and get 'tika' from him," Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Nepal's home minister, told the AFP news agency.

The success of the ongoing peace process is the need of the nation at this hour King Gyanendra

But hundreds of pro-royalist Nepalis did queue outside the royal palace waiting to receive blessings.

A truce was agreed between the Nepalese government and Maoist rebels in April, but the peace talks have stalled in recent weeks over such issues as disarmament and the future of the monarchy.

The rebels have refused to decommission their weapons unless their demand for an interim government and parliament is met.