'Nepali king must act to defuse standoff'

A general strike called by opposition parties has closed the capital and sent prices soaring and, despite a government clampdown, massive protests against King Gyanendra have mushroomed across the troubled nation with at least five killed.

King Gyanendra, who grabbed total control after sacking the government 14 months ago, now faces stark choices, warned a senior Western diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Our message is that you don't have a lot of time, you have to move and you have to talk to the (political) parties," the diplomat said.

"I think the situation is getting more and more precarious. The king has to engage the parties in open honest dialogue leading to the restoration of democracy," the senior diplomat told AFP.

In a message for Nepalese New Year last week the king again asked political parties to enter dialogue and reiterated an offer to hold national elections as soon as possible.

His speech was dismissed by the political parties, who vowed to continue their protests until full democracy is restored and the king's power curtailed.

They have called for a mass rally to held in the capital Thursday, marking the start of a third week of the strike.

The current protest movement is bigger than the 1990 democracy movement that first signalled the end of direct royal rule in Nepal, noted Japanese journalist Kiyoko Ogura who has lived in the kingdom for 13 years and written a book on the democracy movement.

But she saw no indication that the king would back down.

"I don't think that the king will step back, he will continue to keep his position. The only thing I can see is more confrontation," Ogura told AFP.