June 02, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 27, 1429

KATHMANDU, June 1: Nepal’s deposed monarch lost his ancestral home in the mountainous west on Sunday, days after being dethroned and ordered to leave the main royal palace in Kathmandu, officials said. Leaders of the Nepal’s former communist rebels, who won elections last month and are set to lead the new government, travelled to the town of Gorkha and announced that the palace there is now a museum open to the public.

Gorkha, about 75 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu, is where ex-King Gyanendra’s ancestors came from. Gyanendra never lived there but made annual visits for religious ceremonies.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Prachanda inaugurated the museum on Sunday, said local police chief Geeta Upreti. Senior government officials were also with Prachanda, who goes by one name only, when he made the announcement.

Gyanendra’s throne was officially abolished on Wednesday by Nepal’s newly elected Constituent Assembly. Two days later he was ordered by the government to leave the Narayanhiti royal palace in Katmandu within two weeks.

It was still unclear when Gyanendra would leave that palace. Reports have said he is consulting astrologers to decide the most auspicious time to go.

The staunchly republican Maoists have threatened to remove him by force if he does not go peacefully.—AP