Nepalese scoff at official explanations

KATHMANDU, JUNE 3. A lovesick Prince gone mad or an automatic weapon exploded by itself? The number of bizarre explanations of the massacre of Nepal's royal family on Friday night in which King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and six others died is growing. In scenes reminiscent of Britain's mourning for Princess Diana in 1997, crowds of shocked and sobbing Nepalese queued up outside the Royal Palace today to pay respects to their popular monarchs. Others strewed flowers alongside huge pictures of the King and Queen put up at crossroads, while barbers did brisk business as Nepali men had their heads shaved in the Hindu tradition of mourning.

Though the streets of Kathmandu were mostly calm, there were occasional protests against the official explanations of the massacre, which first blamed the Crown Prince himself and then on an automatic weapon exploding by accident.

``According to the information received by us, they were injured when an automatic weapon suddenly exploded,'' the state radio announced today. A ballistics expert in New Delhi said, however, that such a scenario was impossible. ``It cannot go off on its own. Someone has to pull the trigger first. After that it can continue to fire automatically,'' an Indian Army Colonel, who did not wish to be named, said.

The Crown Prince's uncle, Prince Gyanendra, named Regent since the new King was in a coma, also issued a statement suggesting that the massacre was the result of an automatic weapon going off by accident.

Protesters demand facts

Some 200 men and women, many of the men with shaved heads, marched through the streets demanding execution for the King's killers and scoffed at the official explanations of the deaths.

``There is definitely a large conspiracy here. How can the person who was going to be the King commit such an act? Nobody is telling us the facts,'' said one protester.

``We are not being given access to the hospital. There is no credible official announcement. Nobody from the palace is speaking out. The people of Nepal are very confused,'' added another.

Officials have admitted they do not really know what happened inside the palace on Friday night. The palace was closed today, though hundreds queued up outside to pay condolences, carrying roses and other flowers. Small groups were taken in through a huge gate to a small guardhouse to sign condolence books hastily placed alongside a picture of the dead King and the Queen.

Some left flowers outside the palace gates, with condolence cards reading, ``To our beloved royal family''. One card read, ``A time of grief for the royal family and the entire kingdom''.

A unifying figurehead

The late King, cremated along with his wife and family on the banks of the holy Bagmati river on Saturday, enjoyed great popularity in Nepal, particularly since he ceded absolute power in favour of a British-style constitutional monarchy in 1990. Many saw him as the figurehead holding together the impoverished country, wrought by political infighting and Maoist insurgency in recent years.

According to analysts, the royal massacre could have a major impact on the stability of the nation. Some protesters hurled stones at the police on Saturday, accusing the Government of Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala being behind the slayings. Along the funeral route cries of ``Girija resign'' were heard.

- Reuters

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