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| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
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Nepalese king lifts state of emergency KATHMANDU, Saturday (AFP) Nepal's King Gyanendra Saturday lifted the state of emergency he imposed over the Himalayan kingdom when he fired the government and took control of the country in February, state radio announced. The emergency was due to expire on Monday and the lifting came just hours after the king returned from a visit to Indonesia, China and Singapore. Gyanendra sacked the government, assumed power and declared a state of emergency on February 1, saying it had failed to quell a Maoist uprising that has claimed 11,000 lives since it was launched in 1996. The king's moves drew condemnation from the international community, with India and Britain suspending desperately-needed military aid to the kingdom amid increasing rebel threats. Press freedom and right of assembly were also to be reintroduced with the lifting of the state of emergency, a senior lawyer said. "The rights suspended by the emergency on February 1, have become active now after its withdrawal which means there will be press freedom, right to movement, right to information, right to demonstrate and gather peacefully, Sher Bahadur, vice president of Nepal Bar Association said. Opposition figures welcomed the decision to lift the emergency, but urged the king also to scrap the anti-graft Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC), formed on February 16. The powerful anti-graft body can summon, investigate, and arrest suspects and file cases and pass judgment on corruption charges against figures including politicians, businessmen and civil servants. "The news of lifting the state of emergency after three months of its
enforcement is a welcome step but the continuity of the RCCC is absurd as it
is merely to terrify or frighten politicians or businessmen," a senior
leader of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Gopal Man Shrestha, told AFP. |
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