File photo: Nepali King Gyanendra

    KATHMANDU, Feb. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepal's King Gyanendra announced the lineup of a new Council of Ministers, or cabinet, Wednesday morning, a day after he sacked the government and imposed a state of emergency.

    Members of the new cabinet are listed as follows:

    Minister for Foreign Affairs: Ramesh Nath Pandey;

    Minister for Education and Sports: Radha Krishna Mainali;

    Minister for General Administration: Krishna Lal Thakali;

    Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation: Buddhi Raj Bajracharya;

    Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare: Mrs. Durga Shrestha;

    Minister for Information and Communications: Tanka Dhakal;

    Minister for Home and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs: Dan Bahadur Shahi;

    Minister for Local Development: Khadga Bahadur GC;

    Minister for Labor and Transport Management: Ram Narayan Singh;

    Minister for Finance: Madhukar Shumsher JB Rana. Enditem

Nepalese king dismisses government

King Gyanendra of Nepal gives an oath to Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in Kathmandu February 1.

    KATHMANDU, Feb. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Nepali King Gyanendra announced Tuesday in an address to the nation that he had dissolved the coalition government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

    The King announced through the state-run television that he will form a new government under his own chairmanship, taking control of the Himalayan kingdom for the second time in three years.

    "A new Cabinet will be formed under my leadership," he said. "This will restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years."

    The king accused the government of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and being unable restore peace in the country.

    He also declared a state of emergency. Armored military vehicles with mounted machine guns were patrolling the streets of Katmandu, the capital, and phone lines in the city had been cut.

    The king, who is also the supreme commander of the 78,000-member Royal Nepalese Army, said "I have exercised the rights given to the crown under the present constitution and dissolved the government in the larger interests of the people."

    "For the larger interest of the Nepalese general public, the nation and democracy and people's fundamentals rights, we have decided to form a new government under my own chairmanship."

    "All the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country's democracy," Gyanendra said in his half-hour address.

    "Innocent children were found massacred and the government could not achieve any important and effective results. The crown traditionally is held responsible for the protection of national sovereignty, democracy and people's right to live peacefully," he said.

    Gyanendra ascended the throne in June 2001 after his brother King Birendra and 10 members of the royal family were gunned down in a palace massacre committed by Birendra's son. Enditem