"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." Nepal's Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi - http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=63914 There is an all round international condemnation. UN, US, UK, India, you name it. Indian Prime Minister cancels his trip to the SAARC summit. That is a major act of protest. The leaders under arrest. Are their second level leaders around the country capable of organizing a counter move? That is to be seen. Is it just the Congress and the UML leaders, or is it also those from the smaller parties? Anyone jailed? Or is it a blanket house arrest? Will the Maoists come for talks? Even if they might know the king will not give an inch. The 1991 constitution is the best he will offer. It is now like a direct confrontation between the Maoists and the Monarchists for now. One hopes there is not too much bloodshed. More likely the people are in for another round of authoritarianism. Militarization with all its repurcussions for the conscious and the thinking. A further deterioration in the human rights situation will be the sad part. "....Nepal's mountainous terrain makes it highly unlikely that there will ever be a military solution to the war with the Maoist rebels, who have an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 fighters and control large parts of the countryside...........He has a 78,000-member army under his command, and said that he would "restore democracy and law and order in the country in the next three years."..." "..King Gyanendra said, ?They (politicians) were only after power and neglected peoples? interest.?.." Look who is talking! "..The King had also called upon the Maoists to surrender by laying down arms and promised to grant amnesty to those who do so..." - http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=63885 - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4226039.stm (Rabindra Mishra) ".. If the king fails, there is a possibility that the political parties might establish some sort of working relationship with the Maoists and try to get rid of the king himself .." "..But Mr Deuba had been telling many journalists off the record that the king himself did not, in fact, want the elections to be held..." - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4228309.stm "..Spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahra told the BBC Nepali service that the king had closed the door to any possibility of dialogue..." This is a call from both sides for a military solution to the stalemate. Not good.