Nepal Pulls Plug & Names a New King Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Monday June 4 2:22 AM ET (via yahoo) Gyanendra Named New King As Nepal Mystery Deepens By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal proclaimed its second new king in two days on Monday, naming acting regent Prince Gyanendra as monarch following a mysterious palace massacre which has rocked the Himalayan kingdom to its foundations. The announcement by state radio followed the death on Monday of King Dipendra, who had been critically injured in the palace carnage in which his father, mother and six other relatives died. "King Dipendra has passed away at 3.45 a.m. His Royal Highness Gyanendra has been proclaimed king in accordance with the constitution," state radio said. Dipendra had been in a coma since Friday when he either mowed down his family in a hail of automatic rifle fire following a row over his choice of bride, or suffered fatal injuries when an AK-47 inexplicably "exploded" and wiped out his family. Gyanendra, who was named Prince Regent after the incident, said Friday's massacre was an accident, but at least one senior official said earlier that Dipendra was responsible. Shock and mourning in Nepal was fast turning to anger on Monday as people demanded to know more about the circumstances behind the slaying of King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and six other royals. The late king, cremated along with his wife and family on the banks of the holy Bagmati river on Saturday, enjoyed great popularity in Nepal, particularly since he ceded absolute power in favor of a British-style constitutional monarchy in 1990. Many saw him as holding together the impoverished country, racked by political infighting and Maoist insurgency in recent years. Analysts say the royal massacre could have a major impact on stability in the nation of 22 million people, where Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has faced violent street protests against his rule. An influential local newspaper said it was time to end the mystery of Friday night's palace shooting. "For some 15 hours after the shooting in the palace, the public was kept in the dark as to just what had transpired," the Kathmandu Post said. "What happens to the monarchy is too important for the nation to be left to the palace alone. This state of affairs should be put an end to by the government and the opposition parties acting in concert if that is what it takes." SCENES REMINISCENT OF PRINCESS DIANA Police said that late on Sunday night protesters burned copies of Indian newspapers for what they said was "negative reporting" of the palace drama in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom. Hundreds of people passed the closed gates of the palace in central Kathmandu late on Sunday, bowing in respect. Others laid wreaths beside huge pictures of the late King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya that had been put up at crossroads. A stream of mourners lit candles near the pictures at a road leading to the palace, sobbing and praying silently as they tried to overcome the shock of losing the king -- widely seen as the incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. In scenes reminiscent of Britain's mourning for Princess Diana in 1997, they laid flowers and cards. "To our beloved royal family," one said. But most of all, they wanted an explanation. "There is no credible official announcement. Nobody from the palace is speaking out a single word. The people of Nepal are very confused," said Mahinder Dhapa, one of some 200 men and women gathered in a protest. Nepal, once an almost compulsory pilgrimage for a generation of beatniks, is today better known as a starting point for mountaineers wanting to climb some of the world's highest peaks -- including Mount Everest. It is also home to the Gurkhas, who make up some of the British army's most feared regiments. Friday's tragedy was the worst massacre of royalty since the 1918 killings of the last Tsar of Russia and his family by Bolshevik revolutionaries. Dipendra, who was always likely to succeed his father had led a privileged life. Like his father, he attended at Eton school in Britain, where friends recall him as popular, but occasionally moody. Gyanendra was briefly king as a toddler 50 years ago when Nepal was in a state of political upheaval. Mana Ranjanj Josse, a journalist who has written extensively on the royal family, said Gyanendra was a close confidant of his late brother but was a vastly different person. While King Birendra was a gentleman and "a nice guy" willing to accommodate several opinions, his younger brother was "hard boiled," Josse said. "People who deal with him will find him to be a no-nonsense, firm man," he said. But Gyanendra has a son who could be the crown prince and who is not regarded highly in Nepal because of his wild lifestyle, press reports say. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytas-06.04.01-02:52:50-28846