Nepal parliament votes to end monarchy

KATHMANDU - Nepal's provisional parliament approved a motion on Friday to abolish the monarchy as part of negotiations with former Maoist rebels to move a peace deal forward, live television pictures showed.

The provisional parliament voted for Nepal, once the world's only Hindu kingdom, to become a "federal democratic republican state".

The motion was passed by a majority of 270 votes in the 329-seat parliament, which includes the Maoists. Three votes were cast against it. Live TV showed parliamentary officials reading out the result.

The vote comes days after the government agreed to abolish the Himalayan nation's nearly 240-year-old monarchy, one of the few left in Asia. That decision ended months of political deadlock with the once-feared Maoist guerrillas.

But Nepal will become a republic only after the decision is endorsed by the first meeting of a special assembly, which is due to be elected by mid-April next year.

Officials said King Gyanendra will continue to live in the palace without any powers until after those elections.

"But if the king creates serious hurdles in the elections he can be removed by a two-third majority of the interim parliament before the polls," the motion said.

There was no immediate comment from the king.