Nepal's King Reinstates Parliament

Embattled Leader Makes Peace Offering To Democracy Protesters

(AP)  Nepal's embattled King Gyanendra on Monday reinstated the lower house of Parliament and expressed his sympathies for those killed in weeks of pro-democracy protests, trying to avoid a bloody showdown between demonstrators and his security forces.

"We extend our heartfelt condolences for all those who have lost their lives in the people's movement," Gyanendra said in the address, broadcast on state television and radio.

Nepal's largest opposition party welcomed the king's comments, and the sounds of celebratory shouts and whistles could be heard in the streets of Katmandu minutes after the 11:30 p.m. speech.

Gyanendra "has addressed the spirit of the people's movement" and met the demands of the main opposition seven-party alliance, said Ram Chandra Poudel, general secretary of the Nepali Congress.

The reinstatement of Parliament was a key demand of the alliance, which has been leading the demonstrations that have brought the Himalayan country to the brink of chaos.

"We are confident the nation will forge ahead toward sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy and national unity," the king said in the brief address.

Parliament's lower house holds real elected power in Nepal's constitution. The upper house is largely symbolic.

Gyanendra's speech came on the eve of the largest planned protest yet, with hundreds of thousands of people expected.

Earlier Monday, foreign diplomats had been struggling to cut a deal to end the crisis.

Countries with strong ties to Nepal were encouraging Gyanendra to give the opposition alliance what it is demanding, including the reinstatement of Parliament, and an apology for 14 demonstrators killed by security forces over three weeks of protests, said a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Another person familiar with the discussions, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the negotiations, adding that India was among those in the forefront of the talks.

Gyanendra remained almost completely silent during the crisis, hidden behind the walls of his heavily guarded central Katmandu palace and kept in power because of the loyalty of his security forces.

Protests have rocked Katmandu and many other towns for nearly three weeks, and police have clashed repeatedly with demonstrators demanding Gyanendra relinquish the absolute power he seized 14 months ago when he dismissed an interim government, saying he needed to bring order to the chaotic political situation and crush a Maoist insurgency.