Nepal King Makes Plea for Unity

KATMANDU, Nepal--Wrapping up his first year on the throne he assumed after Nepal’s royal family was massacred, King Gyanendra called for unity as Nepal’s military battles Maoist insurgents.

“We should have the attitude of doing something for peace, development and good governance and take pride in being Nepalese and remaining Nepalese,” the king said in an interview published Wednesday by the state news agency.

Today marks Gyanendra’s first anniversary as the nation’s mostly ceremonial monarch, and there was no indication he would lift the emergency rule that has suspended civil liberties as the government seeks to crush the revolt.

Gyanendra’s brother, the beloved King Birendra, was killed by Crown Prince Dipendra on June 1, 2001. The massacre left 10 members of the royal household dead, including Dipendra, who ended the palace blood bath by turning a gun on himself.