December 10, 2001

KATHMANDU: King Gyanendra told a newspaper in an exclusive that the army has no other option now but to disarm the Maoists. “They have no other option but  to disarm them,” the King told Dinesh Satyal of the Naya Sadak Nepali daily newspaper in its Monday edition.

The King twice in an hour-long interview said he regretted the imposition of  an emergency in November, Satyal said. “I absolutely do not like it. I never  wanted the emergency. It was the circumstances. I am extremely sorry that  Nepalis are fighting each other,” the King said on the most recent internal  political developments in Nepal.

“There are no pressures to side with any one country. But I have made it clear to friends that relations should be more practical,” the King said in answer to a question ” on geo-political pressure.”

The King said results of his suggestions and recommendations to the government are good. “The results of my recommendations and suggestions  are good upto now. It takes time for full results to come out,” the King said. The King ascended the throne on June 4.