The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Kathmandu

Nepal's ex-king Gyanendra will leave his palace on Wednesday, a day before the expiry of a deadline set by a constitutional assembly which abolished the monarchy, a palace official said.

"The (former) king will leave the palace on Wednesday, and before leaving he will hold a press conference," Phanindra Raj Pathak, the chief of the palace press secretariat, told AFP Tuesday.

The former monarch will move to a former hunting lodge on the outskirts of Kathmandu and his massive palace in the heart of the city will be turned into a museum.

Nepal's monarchy was abolished on May 28 by a constitutional assembly, which was set up following a peace deal with Maoist insurgents and mainstream political parties.

The Maoists, who have told the king to bow out gracefully or else be put on trial, welcomed the news.

"It's a very positive step that the king has peacefully accepted the decision to vacate the palace. We are thankful to him," Krishna Bahadur Mahara, spokesman for the former rebels, told AFP.