Mum on Maoists move, Nepal king lives for Europe

There is no official word about the three-month cease-fire announced by the Maoists in Nepal yesterday, but King Gyanendra is setting off on a three-week tour of Europe and the US that will be red-carpet all the way.

Obviously taken aback by the Maoist offer of an unilateral cease-fire, the official establishment is yet to respond. India believes that the Maoists have made the offer to help the consolidation of political opinion that has been going on over the past several weeks.

The peace offer puts the Royal Nepal Army on the backfoot, as it cannot really proceed against a group that has announced a voluntary and unilateral cease-fire, without attracting charges of human rights violation.

Optimists say the cease-fire will help in quickly building up a political movement against the King. The 11th general convention of the Nepali Congress""that concluded last week"" decided to omit the reference to "constitutional monarchy" in response to King Gyanendra's act of taking over powers in February this year. The implication was that the party did not think the action was constitutional.

This, observers say, is a precursor to parties overcoming differences""and there are many ""to launch a united strike against the king. But indications are that the King is unfazed by all the sabre-rattling. His supporters say he is firmly ensconced as the "constitutional" monarch for the next two years, maybe three.

He is going to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York after a stopover in Europe and will visit Los Angeles and possibly Hawaii while in the US.

He has asked for no meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh so far, so that he is one leader the Indian prime Minister will not get to see.

Obviously, the King feels the situation in Nepal is secure enough to survive his three-week absence. Information filtering in from the capital indicatws that strikes and lathicharges on political meetings are the order of the day in the Kathmandu Valley as well as Nepalgunj, the biggest town in the plains.

The King's address at the UNGA will be watched by ambassadors in many state capitals with a lot of interest.