Gyanendra Declared King of NepalThe Raj Parishad, after an emergency meeting, made a brief announcement broadcast over radio and television Monday morning at 10:30 that Prince Regent Gyanendra has been declared King of Nepal.It added that King Dipendra had died at 03:45 in the morning at the Chhauni military hospital. There are demonstration on the streets of Kathmandu with hijacked taxis shouting slogans like "No one can kill our king" and "We won't accept Gyanendra as king". Police has forcibly dispersed some of the crowds, but they have been massing at the centre of the city. The road from Kanti Path to Hanuman Dhoka Palace where the official crowning is expected to take place soon has been cleared even of bystanders. In a message to the nation, King Gyanendra also said a thorough investigation into the massacre at the royal palace in which at least eight members of the royal family were killed would be made. He added that there had been difficulties in making that announcement earlier. ProfileGyanendra, the second brother of late King Birendra, had been declared regent to work as king Saturday, as King Dipendra was critically injured in what the royal palace described as an " accidental firing from an automatic weapon" in the royal palace on Friday night, which killed King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and some other members of the royal family.Born in 1947, Prince Gyanendra was educated at Darjeeling, India, with his brother, late King Birendra. As a wildlife expert interested in environment and nature conservation, Gyanendra is the Chairman of King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation, a non-governmental organization for the conservation of nature. Gyanendra is married and has a son and a daughter. |
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