UPDATED ON:
Friday, December 08, 2006
19:19 Mecca time, 16:19 GMT
 
News CENTRAL/S. ASIA
Nepali king gets first tax bill
Gyanendra was forced to reinstate parliamentary rule after mass protests in April.

Nepal's King Gyanendra has paid customs duty on his personal goods, the first time a monarch of the Himalayan nation has paid any type of tax, the government has said.
 
The king paid no tax before the government moved to strip him of most of his powers in May.
"The customs office at the Tribhuvan international airport charged a total of 130,893 rupees [$1,817] as duty and tax to release 50 torches and a hunting trophy," said a government official.
 
The government also plans to nationalise land owned by the king and distribute it to the poor.
The duty was enforced as part of a move to treat the king like a "normal citizen", officials said.
 
Nepal's monarchs have traditionally been revered as dieties, but King Gyanendra's popularity plummeted after he sacked the government early last year.
 
He said the move was needed to quell an anti-monarchy Maoist rebellion which has killed more than 13,000 people since 1996.
 
Street protests organised by Nepal's main political parties and supported by the Maoists in April forced him to hand power back to them.
 
Last month, the government and Maoists signed a landmark peace deal declaring an end to the decade-old revolt.
 
They have also agreed to hold elections next year for a special assembly which would be tasked to map the country's political future and decide the fate of its monarchy.
 Source: Agencies
 
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