US asks king and parties to settle differences
Senior US official says that United States was deeply concerned that Nepal's government still has no elected officials at any level.
A senior US official today said he met with Nepal's king and opposition leaders to express concern over the Himalayan country's political crisis and urge them to restore democracy.
Donald Camp, US deputy assistant secretary for South Asian affairs, said the United States was deeply concerned that Nepal's government still has no elected officials at any level.
"We would like to take this opportunity to encourage the king and the political party leaders to restore Nepal's democratic institutions and develop a unified strategy for resolving the political crisis and (communist) insurgency," Camp said.
Thousands of people have demonstrated in Kathmandu and elsewhere nearly every day since a campaign to restore democracy was stepped up last month.
Some of the rallies, organized by Nepal's five largest political parties, have turned violent and scores of people have been injured. Thousands have been detained.
Camp is in Nepal to take part in a two-day international donor's meeting in Kathmandu.
He said he met King Gyanendra yesterday and other political leaders today and asked them to narrow their differences and work together to settle the country's communist insurgency.