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.

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

KING Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s government and imposed a state of emergency yesterday, cutting off his Himalayan nation from the rest of the world as telephone and internet lines were severed, flights diverted and civil liberties severely curtailed.

King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s government yesterday and declared a state of emergency, taking control of the Himalayan kingdom for the second time in three years.

THOUSANDS of people rampaged through Kathmandu, setting fire to a mosque and Arab targets and ransacking employment agencies after 12 Nepalese hostages were murdered in Iraq.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa quit today, apparently forced out of office by mass street protests in the Himalayan kingdom.

Police detained more than 1,000 protesters for defying a ban on public rallies today, as demonstrators flooded the streets of the Nepalese capital Katmandu to demand that the king restore democracy.

Nepal’s King Gyanendra today sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and disbanded his council of ministers.

The leader of Nepal’s communist rebels today offered a month long ceasefire in the six year guerrilla war after a week of fierce fighting in which the government said hundreds of combatants have been killed.

Maoist rebels in Nepal have killed at least 104 soldiers and policemen last night and today in simultaneous attacks across the country, a senior army officer said.

The Nepalese military has killed hundreds of Maoist rebels in air strikes over the weekend, a government spokesman said today.

Nepal’s king today declared a state of emergency after weekend attacks by Maoist rebels left at least 300 dead.