Nepali king, Maoists pledge to win support

The interview with Gyanendra at the Narayanhity Palace and Prachanda via email comes more than two months after the king sacked a four-party coalition government and assumed absolute power to crush a rebellion by the Maoists that has killed more than 11,000 people since 1996.

In a proclamation issued February 1, Gyanendra said that his government, with the backing of the military with himself as supreme commander, wanted three years to restore stability in the country.

In the interview, sections of which were published Sunday, he said his government was interested in "winning the hearts and minds of the people" as part of a strategy to prevail over the Maoists who control three-quarters of the countryside outside the capital.

"The nation has choosen not to accept terrorism, and the (army) will do whatever is required -- coerce, comprehend, coordinate, cooperate. No law abiding citizen should feel pain. Those who do not abide the law will feel pain," he said according to a transcript of the interview sent via email by Time.