Kathmandu, June 2

Nepals royal family was virtually wiped out late last night when the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra, shot and killed King Birendra (55), Queen Aishwarya (51) and several other family members before shooting himself.

He first shot the others, then shot himself, Interior Minister Ram Chandra Poudel told Reuters today.

There was widespread speculation that the massacre at the Royal Palace stemmed from a family feud over the 29-year-old Princes choice of a bride, but this could not be confirmed.

State radio and television did not broadcast their normal morning news bulletins. Instead, they extended their traditional early morning religious programmes.

Apart from the King and the Queen, those killed in the shooting included the Kings daughter Princess Shruti Rana, the Kings cousin Princess Jayanti Shah, the Kings youngest son, Prince Nirajan, the Kings sisters Princesses Shanti Singh and Sharda Shah, and the Kings brother-in-law Kumar Khadga Bikram Shah.

Among those fighting for their lives in hospital were said to be the Kings youngest brother Dhirendra, Gorakh Rana, husband of Princess Shruti, and Princess Shova Shahi, the Kings youngest sister.

Prince Dipendra was named today as the new monarch even as he battled for life in a hospital.

Sources said the Crown Prince fired indiscriminately in a fit of rage as the royal family sat for dinner at the Narayan Hity Palace last night following arguments over his marriage plans.

Prince Dipendra, who is in coma and on life-support systems in the military hospital, was named the King by the government state council, despite uncertainty over his condition as per constitutional provisions. His uncle and younger brother of King Birendra, Gyanendra, was declared regent.

Since the King has passed away, the council declares Crown Prince Dipendra as the King of Nepal. But since the Crown Prince is in the hospital and is mentally and physically unsuitable to carry out his duties, the state council appoints Prince Gyanendra as assistant to the Crown, a council statement said.

The Nepal government announced a 13-day national mourning following the royal massacre, according to Nepal Ambassador in India Bhekh Bahadur Thapa.

The mourning was declared today after the formal announcement of the death of King Birendra and his kins at their Narayan Hity Royal Palace in Kathmandu at 9.15 p.m. last night, the Ambassador said.

Besides the national mourning, the government has also decided not to celebrate any festival for a period of one year in the Hindu kingdom.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people protested in Kathmandu on Saturday over the killing of the countrys royal family with no official version yet released on what exactly happened at the palace late yesterday.

Numerous rumours were circulating in the city, with demonstrators, most of them young men, carrying portraits of the slain King and Queen and shouting slogans like Long Live Our King and Queen, and Punish the guilty.

A protest demonstration of about 500 gathered at the centre of the city and went near the building where the state council was meeting to name a successor to King Birendra.

The demonstrators were clearly implying that Crown Prince Dipendra did not kill his parents and that there might have been foul play involved.

The police stopped the demonstrators just before they reached the state council building and used force to disperse the crowd.

One of the demonstrators, when asked why he was participating in the demonstration said: I do not believe what we are hearing from foreign news media. I do not think any son would kill his parents for such a trifle reason.

King Birendra ascended the throne on January 31, 1972, on the death of his father, King Mahendra, who had suffered a massive heart attack.

Immediately on his accession to the throne, King Birendra tried to reform development strategies in the landlocked Himalayan kingdom.

He divided the country into five regional development zones with a pledge to do more for the development of western Nepal, the least developed area of Nepal and presently the stronghold of Maoist insurgents.

King Birendra, bowing to a popular uprising against the prevalent panchayat system  in which political parties were banned and he ruled supreme  ordered a referendum to decide whether to retain the system or to opt for Western-style multi-party democracy. Agencies

