Nepal Government formally asks deposed king to leave palace

Kathmandu, May 30 : Deposed monarch King Gyanendra was formally asked by the Nepal Government to vacate the royal palace within the next two weeks, and a palace official said the king was preparing to move to his palatial private home in Kathmandu.

As word of the order spread, Nepali television stations broadcast video filmed overnight of trucks being driven from the palace to King Gyanendra's private home.

The order to leave the concrete palace that dominates downtown Kathmandu comes two days after Nepal's newly elected lawmakers, led by former communist insurgents, declared the country a republic, ending a dynasty that had reigned for 239 years.

Home Secretary Umesh Mainali said the order was delivered to the palace on Friday morning.

On Friday, Gyanendra was still in the palace, although his daughter-in-law, Hemani, had moved to a private home in the northern part of the city just after midnight, the home secretary said.

ANI