NEW DELHI, Feb 2: The Asian Human Rights Commission criticized on Tuesday what it said was a palace-led coup in Nepal and urged the United Nations to intervene to prevent feared extra-judicial killings, illegal detention and torture that it said might follow.

In a faxed message to Dawn here, the Hong Kong-based AHRC accused King Gyanendra of staging a coup against democratically-elected representatives of Nepal and expressed fears that cutting-off of all communication links of Nepal with the rest of the world could be used to cause harm to these institutions.

"King Gyanendra's take over through the declaration of a state of emergency and the use of the military should be a matter of extreme concern for the international community, particularly the dangers that members of the former government and other democratic parties, all organizations and societies and human rights defenders face require immediate intervention from all members of the international community," the AHRC said.

"The UN should immediately intervene with the king to prevent any use of violence, extra-judicial killings, illegal detention and arrest and torture. It is also the duty of all governments to intervene similarly in order to ensure the safety and security of all individuals in the country," it said.

All telephone lines to Kathmandu have been cut, the AHRC said. "By this move, harm could be done to many people before the world will know anything about them.

As a preliminary protection measure, it is essential to get the king to restore communication within the country and outside of it so that basic security and the well-being of the population can be guaranteed."