King offers PM post, spurned
Amid mounting civic unrest and protestors defying curfew, King Gyanendra offered the post of Prime Minister to Nepali Congress leader K P Bhattarai.
However, Bhattarai, a former prime minister of Nepal, turned the offer down.
Meanwhile, thousands of protestors defied the shoot-at-sight order and marched towards the Narayanhiti palace, state broadcaster Radio Nepal reported.
There were also reports of clashes in Kathmandu's twin city Keertipur and neighbouring districts of Bhaktapur and Kalanki.
Soldiers and police patrolled the streets of Nepal's capital Thursday to enforce an 18-hour curfew imposed to keep anti-king protesters off the streets, a day after security forces shot dead four pro-democracy demonstrators in the country's east.
District administration officers said the 2 am-8 pm curfew was necessary to prevent opposition parties from staging a huge rally, planned for Thursday, to demand that King Gyanendra loosen his grip on power.
Security forces have orders to shoot curfew violators on sight. Diplomats, journalists and human rights monitors have not been issued passes allowing them onto the streets as they have in the past.
Opposition leaders were meeting Thursday at an undisclosed location to decide if the rally should go ahead despite the inevitable risks attached to breaking the curfew. There were no reports of clashes or protests in Katmandu early Thursday, as hundreds of troops patrolled the capital's deserted streets.
The ring road that circles Kathmandu, which has been the venue of recent past protests to evade the regulation banning demonstrations in the city proper, was also deserted in the morning.
Two weeks of often-violent protests and a general strike against palace rule have paralysed Nepal, leaving cities short of food and fuel and the Himalayan country at its most volatile since King Gyanendra seized power 14 months ago.
The royal government has responded harshly, claiming Maoist insurgents - who are now allied with the opposition - have infiltrated rallies to instigate violence. Police have beaten, tear gassed and arrested thousands of protesters.
Ten Nepalis, including the four on Wednesday, have been slain by security forces since the opposition launched a general strike April 6.
Officials claimed security forces opened fire only after being shot at during an assault by brick-throwing protesters in Chandragadi, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Kathmandu.
The government has made such claims in the past, although no shootings by protesters have been independently verified.
The region's chief administrator, Bhola Siwakoti, also said the demonstrators defied a ban on protests and were looting.
There were conflicting reports of how many were killed Wednesday.
The Defense Ministry said two people died, another Nepali official put the toll at four, and a UN official said it was five. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity.
"The events show how desperate the present royal regime is. It is becoming paranoid," said Dhruba Adhikary of the independent Nepal Press Institute. "The movement is getting popular, it is expanding and growing."
The opposition campaign has brought ordinary Nepalis into the streets alongside students and political activists. On Wednesday, some 250 professors held a protest. All were arrested.
Several thousand other people protested in Kathmandu. Some hurled bricks at police, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and baton charges.
While nearly all here said they hoped that if Thursday's protest takes place it will be peaceful, many said they did not fear violence.
"If we are faced with violence tomorrow, we will burn the palace," Ankil Shrestha, a 22-year-old student, said Wednesday. "The king will die."
