WASHINGTON, Feb 18: Nepal faces a freeze in international military aid if its king, who has seized absolute power, does not restore fundamental rights to the people within the coming weeks, the United States warned on Thursday.
After recalling their ambassadors to their capitals to protest King Gyanendra's power grab, the United States, European nations and India could "seriously consider" cutting off vital military aid to the Himalayan outpost, US envoy to Nepal James Moriarty told reporters in Washington.
"I can't lock us in on that but I can tell you that that will be a step that we will seriously consider," Mr Moriarty said. He did not elaborate on the prospective military aid cut, which analysts say could considerably weaken King Gyanendra's uphill battle against a bloody Maoist insurgency that has left 11,000 people dead so far.
"No, I am not going to be too much more specific but to say that I think security assistance, in particular lethal security assistance, will be at risk if you don't see progress on the king's commitments," Mr Moriarty said.
He said King Gyanendra's administration had given an assurance it would emerge with a plan to address two key concerns - insurgency and the restoration of full multi-party democracy - within 100 days. -AFP
