Nepal’s king reinstates lower parliament

NEPAL’S embattled king last night reinstated the lower house of parliament that was dissolved in 2002, meeting a key demand of the seven-party alliance leading weeks of pro-democracy protests that have pushed the Himalayan country to the brink of chaos.

The address by King Gyanendra was aimed at avoiding a bloody showdown between his security forces and the demonstrators who have paralysed the country in three weeks of protests.

It came on the eve of the largest planned protest yet, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend.