Nepal came under international pressure Monday after the US, EU and India recalled their ambassadors from the Himalayan outpost to protest King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power.
The US State Department indicated of possible international action if the king refused to heed calls to restore fundamental rights.
"The recall of our ambassador, along with the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, India and France, who are also leaving Kathmandu today, I think is an indication of the deep concern in the international community about the recent developments in Nepal," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"These are widely shared among nations of the international community," he said.
In Paris, French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said: "In light of recent events in Nepal, we have decided -- along with our European partners -- to recall EU ambassadors living in Kathmandu for consultations."
On Feb. 1, Nepal's King Gya-nendra sacked the government, appointed a pro-royalist Cabinet headed by himself and declared a state of emergency in the Himalayan kingdom.
Boucher said the US had "made clear the point" that the king needed to restore and protect civil and human rights.
Gyanendra should also release those detained under the state of emergency and move quickly toward restoration of civil liberties and multi-party, democratic institutions, he added.
"We will consult with our ambassador and others will consult with their ambassadors about how best to achieve those goals, how we can support those goals," Boucher said.
"And we'll be sending our ambassador back after a [week] in order to convey that message even more clearly," he said.
Whatever steps taken by the international community would be aimed at "supporting the Nepalese people's quest for democracy, peace, security and development," he added.
India's envoy to Nepal, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, who returned to New Delhi on Monday, had called on the foreign minister Natwar Singh, and briefed him on the latest developments in the restive Himalayan kingdom and his talks with King Gyandendra last week.
Analysts say that among the first actions to be taken if the Nepalese king refused to budge would be freezing military aid to the impoverished nation fighting an uphill battle to suppress a Maoist insurgency, which has claimed more than 11,000 lives so far.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
‘THEY KILLED HOPE’: Four presidential candidates were killed in the 1980s and 1990s, and Miguel Uribe’s mother died during a police raid to free her from Pablo Escobar Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe has died two months after being shot at a campaign rally, his family said on Monday, as the attack rekindled fears of a return to the nation’s violent past. The 39-year-old conservative senator, a grandson of former Colombian president Julio Cesar Turbay (1978-1982), was shot in the head and leg on June 7 at a rally in the capital, Bogota, by a suspected 15-year-old hitman. Despite signs of progress in the past few weeks, his doctors on Saturday announced he had a new brain hemorrhage. “To break up a family is the most horrific act of violence that
North Korean troops have started removing propaganda loudspeakers used to blare unsettling noises along the border, South Korea’s military said on Saturday, days after Seoul’s new administration dismantled ones on its side of the frontier. The two countries had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who is seeking to ease tensions with Pyongyang. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense on Monday last week said it had begun removing loudspeakers from its side of the border as “a practical measure aimed at helping ease
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS