The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kathmandu

The ex-king of Nepal has agreed to quit his palace before a June 12 deadline and live as a commoner after a decision by a constituent assembly to abolish the monarchy, the home minister said Monday.

"He said he is ready to live life as a common citizen," Home Minister Krisna Prasad Sitaula told reporters after meeting Gyanendra.

"He welcomed and accepted the decision made by the first meeting of the constituent assembly."

The Maoist-dominated assembly formally ended the world's last Hindu monarchy and set up a republic, just before midnight Wednesday. The king was given 15 days to leave his palace in Kathmandu.

"I don't see any complications in the former king's departure from the palace. He told me he would leave within the (June 12) deadline," the minister told reporters after a 10-minute meeting.

Gyanendra is expected to move to a private residence in the north of the city-a home he occupied before he was vaulted to the throne in 2001 after a palace massacre .

The 1960s, pink-hued Narayanhiti palace-set in acres of prime land at the end of the capital's Kingsway commercial hub-will be turned into a national museum, officials have said.

The vote to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy capped a two-year peace deal between mainstream political parties and former rebel Maoists who led a bloody insurgency.

Home Minister Krishna Sitaula was among several government officials who met with Gyanendra at the Narayanhiti palace in the capital on Monday, in the first direct contact between the former king and the government since a newly elected Constituent Assembly abolished the monarchy on May 28.

The assembly gave Gyanendra 15 days to vacate the palace.

Gyanendra said he accepted the assembly's decision and that he would move out of the palace by June 12, Home Minister Krishna Sitaula told The Associated Press after the meeting.

"The former king appeared to be in relaxed mood and was not agitated. He did not give any indication that he would resist the government order to move out," Sitaula said. Gyanendra asked that the government assist in finding alternative accommodation for him and his mother.