KATHMANDU, Feb 22: India has halted military aid to Nepal after King Gyanendra seized power early this month, Indian officials said on Tuesday.

New Delhi, a major aid donor and key arms supplier to the Nepal army to help it fight Maoist guerrillas, has been urging the king to restore democracy, release political leaders and lift curbs on the media.

"In view of the current disturbed situation in Nepal, it is a fact that there is no military supply since February 1, 2005," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters in New Delhi.

Gyanendra sacked the government, detained the chiefs of Nepal's main political parties and imposed a state of emergency on Feb. 1 prompting criticism from around the world.

India has been pumping arms, trucks and helicopters to the poorly equipped Nepali army that is battling the Maoists in a nine-year-old conflict. The rebels want to replace the monarchy with a communist republic.

An Indian embassy official in Nepal said Indian humanitarian aid and support to infrastructure projects would not be affected. "As of now, many aspects of our bilateral relations are being re-assessed and reviewed. But as far as military supplies are concerned, they are on hold as of now," embassy spokesman Sanjay Verma said.

New Delhi, together with Washington and London, other major backers of the Nepali army in the war with the rebels, has urged the monarch to roll back his Feb. 1 move, restore democracy, free politicians and lift media curbs.

King Gyanendra has justified his decision, saying it was necessary to protect democracy from the grave risk posed by the Maoist insurgency and political instability.

The Maoists have sponsored a indefinite nation wide road blockade for the past 10 days to oppose the king's power grab and ruled out an early resumption of peace talks that collapsed in August 2003.

They have set up road blocks disrupting supplies and killed a truck driver who defied the blockade. Residents said the Maoists set off a string of bombs in several schools at the weekend in Nepalgunj in the west apparently to enforce a shutdown of local schools.

The blasts caused no injuries but students were too scared to attend classes. Officials said the supply of food grains in remote areas had been disrupted as many drivers have stayed off roads fearing attacks. But in Kathmandu and other cities, there was no apparent sign of panic buying or shortage. -Reuters