Nepal authorities said today they finished vote-counting and were preparing to announce results from elections for a constitutional assembly, the first since communist rebels gave up their insurgency and joined mainstream politics.

The former leader of Nepal’s Maoist insurgency captured a seat today on a new assembly that will chart the Himalayan country’s future, election officials said.

The former leader of Nepal’s bloody Maoist insurgency captured a seat today on a new assembly that will chart the Himalayan country’s future, election officials said.

Nepal’s government has agreed to abolish the monarchy in a deal to persuade former insurgents to join the government.

Nepal celebrated the end of a bloody 10-year insurgency by declaring a public holiday today, as the international community hailed the deal under which communist rebels will join an interim government.

Nepal’s Maoist rebels, who have waged a decade-long war to seize control of the Himalayan nation, will join an interim government to be formed shortly, the rebels’ leader said today after meeting with top government officials.

NEPAL’S new prime minister announced a seven-member Cabinet yesterday, designating a communist as his deputy and foreign minister.

THE newly-recalled Nepalese Parliament called yesterday for a ceasefire with communist rebels and elections for an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

Nepal’s Parliament reconvened today for the first time in four years, after weeks of often-bloody protests forced the king to give up absolute power and return the country to democratic rule.

Nepal’s opposition alliance called off weeks of devastating pro-democracy protests today after King Gyanendra gave in to a demand to reinstate Parliament, but Maoist insurgents quickly rejected the royal announcement.

Amnesty International’s secretary general urged donor nations to suspend military aid to Nepal today, following the king’s declaration of a state of emergency in the Himalayan nation.

A MAOIST rebel call for a nationwide strike yesterday went largely unheeded in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu, overshadowed by this week’s political crisis unleashed when the king sacked the government and claimed tight control over this Himalayan nation.

The United States has urged its citizens to stay away from Nepal following the bombing of a US information centre and fears that Americans could be attacked by Maoist rebels.

Maoist rebels in Nepal have killed at least 16 police officers in an attack on a station in the town of Bhakunde, 28 miles east of the capital, Katmandu.