Police enforce calm in Kathmandu

Police patrol the empty streets during the curfew

Riot police with shoot-on-sight orders have kept the peace on the streets of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, during a second night of curfew.

The new king, Gyanendra, is trying to contain anger and distress over the killing of most of the royal family in an as-yet unexplained shooting incident on Friday.

But the inquiry he set up to report on the deaths failed to begin work on Tuesday as planned, with the leader of the main opposition Marxist party, the Unified Marxist Leninist Party (UML), refusing to participate.

We need to be united at this hour so that no one can take undue advantage of the situation

King Gyanendra

UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said the government, not the king, was responsible for setting up such a probe under the constitution.

He is also reported to have said that the commission's three-day timeframe is unrealistic.

But there have been reports that he will send a representative to participate, raising hopes that the inquiry could begin on Wednesday.

Anger building

BBC correspondent Daniel Lak says anger is building over the lack of explanation about the deaths of King Birendra and eight other members of the royal family.

Initial reports said that Crown Prince Dipendra had killed his family after a row over his choice of bride before turning the gun on himself.

King Gyanendra admits the full truth has not come out

But this account was subsequently denied, with an official statement speaking only of an accident in which there was a sudden discharge of a weapon inside the royal palace.

King Gyanendra has admitted that the second explanation - which was issued when Dipendra was alive, though critically wounded in hospital - may have been influenced by "legal and constitutional hurdles".

While alive, Dipendra was king and it would have been impossible under the constitution and by tradition to accuse him of mass murder.

More violence

There were sporadic outbursts on Tuesday, including a reported incident of police firing tear gas at a group of people in a Kathmandu suburb.

Anger also flared when people were turned away from the condolence book at the royal palace.

Many in Nepal are angry and confused by recent events

"We can't even grieve and mourn anymore. This is terrible," shopkeeper KP Rauniar said.

On Monday, several thousand rioters paralysed the capital, hurling stones and fleeing police baton charges and tear gas volleys.

Two people were killed and at least 19 were injured in the unrest.

Dipendra defence

Thousands of people marched on the royal palace chanting "Dipendra is innocent" and "Punish the real murderers". Others shouted: "We don't want Gyanendra".

Some shouted slogans against the new king and his son, Paras Shah, suggesting that they might have been involved in the massacre.

Other conspiracy theories involve India and, according to Nepal's militant Maoist groups, unnamed international forces.

The Kathmandu Post newspaper said even the most bitter and unpalatable truths must be told to the people.