King Gyanendra announced a 10-member cabinet Wednesday, one day after he dismissed the Nepalese government, and declared emergency rule. An official later said the new government would reach out to the country's leftist rebels to renew peace talks.

Gyanendra will head the newly appointed cabinet, state radio said in a report that gave few details other than the new body's members.

"The king has expressed confidence that everyone will support and co-operate with the new cabinet," the palace said in a statement.

Shortly after the king swore in his new cabinet, Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi said the government would soon be approaching the leftist rebels to renew talks.

"The king has the chief executive authority now, so it will be easier for the rebels to come for peace talks. It is what they have been wanting," Shahi said in comments carried on state radio.

The leftists, who control much of rural Nepal, broke off peace talks in August 2003.

The rebels balked at later invitations from the government of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to renew the talks, insisting that real authority remained in the hands of the king.

The king on Tuesday sacked Deuba's interim government, accusing it of failing to hold parliamentary elections or control the leftist insurgency and pledging to do both himself within three years.

Gyanendra denied Tuesday's takeover was a coup, although soldiers surrounded the houses of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other government leaders.

The king suspended several provisions of the constitution, including freedom of the press, speech and expression, peaceful assembly, the right to privacy, and the right against preventive detention, according to a statement from the Narayanhiti Palace.

Despite the political turmoil, life appeared largely normal in Katmandu, with most shops open and traffic still heavy enough to clog the city's maze-like streets.

Air links restored

Air links between Nepal and the rest of the world were largely restored yesterday, a day after the airport in the capital, Kathmandu, was shut.

Airline officials in the Indian capital, which has the highest number of flights to Kathmandu, said state-run Indian Airlines' daily Delhi-Kathmandu-Delhi flight was operating normally.

"Our flight is already there and should return to Delhi later this evening," an Indian Airlines official said.

Nepal's state-run Royal Nepal Airlines (RNA) and privately owned Cosmic Air also said their daily Kathmandu-Delhi-Kathmandu flights were operating on schedule.

The RNA flight was the only international flight to operate on Tuesday after Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport was shut and three Indian flights and a Thai Airways flight turned back without landing in the Himalayan city.

Thai Airways also resumed normal operations with two flights to Kathmandu yesterday, company officials in Bangkok said.

However, private Indian airlines Jet Airways and Air Sahara saitheir Delhi-Kathmandu flights were cancelled for a second day yesterday. Airline officials did not have details of when services would resume.

(China Daily February 3, 2005)