Protesters in Nepal keep up pressure for reform

After a weekend which saw hundreds of thousands of protesters try to march on his palace, the King's options are running out. His offer to restore democracy and reign as a constitutional monarch was rejected when huge crowds took to the streets of Kathmandu on Saturday, and security forces resorted to brutal measures to keep them away from the palace.

Yesterday's protests in the capital were on a smaller scale. Police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowds of protesters who gathered at the city's ring road, injuring at least 23.

Analysts said Saturday's rallies were a victory for the protesters, who succeeded in forcing King Gyanendra's offer to hold elections with himself as a constitutional monarch off the table. Foreign governments that initially welcomed the King's offer were backtracking yesterday after Saturday's rejection by the protesters. Nepal's powerful neighbour India said it would not stand in the way of the will of the Nepali people.

Ministers in King Gyanendra's government are now so afraid that they did not turn up to work yesterday, according to Nepalese television.

The seven-party alliance leading the protests wants parliament, dissolved in 2002, to be recalled and the army to be put under its control. It is demanding a new assembly to rewrite the constitution, and debate whether Nepal should have a monarchy at all.