Nepal extends arrest of political leaders

Political analysts say the veteran political leaders are being kept under detention for fear they could rally popular protests against the king's move.

"Earlier, the leaders were kept under house arrest for a month under the Public Security Act," Chief District Officer Baman Prasad Neupane, who helps oversees law and order in Kathmandu, told AFP.

"Now after completion of a month, it's felt their house arrest cannot be lifted immediately so it has been extended by two months," Neupane said.

Gyanendra assumed complete power in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom more than a month ago. He fired the government, imposed emergency rule and suspended civil liberties including press freedom.

In a step that has drawn wide international condemnation, Gyanendra said he was forced to act to tackle an increasingly deadly Maoist revolt and has given himself three years to restore peace and democracy.

Those detained included Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal's first prime minister elected in 1991 and head of the centrist Nepali Congress Party, and Sher Bahadur Deuba, whom Gyanendra sacked as prime minister along with his four-party coalition government.

Other leaders ordered to remain in their homes were the former finance minister in the last government, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, and sacked home minister Puna Bahadur Khadka.

The other two ordered to remain in detention were Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Nepal Communist Party United Marxist and Leninist (NCP-UML), and Amik Sherchan, leader of the communist United Front Nepal.