US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca, arrived in Nepal on Monday and was expected to push King Gyanendra to allow the country an early return to democracy. During her three-day trip to the restive Himalayan kingdom she will meet Gyanendra, senior members of his royalist administration as well as leaders of political parties who were part of the government sacked by the king on February 1. "I am happy to be back and looking forward to the meetings," Rocca told reporters after arriving at Kathmandu airport.
Rocca is the most senior US official to visit Nepal since Gyanendra imposed emergency rule, detained politicians, suspended civil rights and curbed press freedom.
The king has said the moves were vital to quell a Maoist revolt that has left more than 11,000 people dead since 1996.
Unlike India and Britain, which suspended arms aid to protest the king's move, Washington has not announced a cut in weapons supplies to Nepal, which uses US arms to fight the Maoist rebels who want to set up a single-party communist republic by overthrowing the monarchy.
Hours before Rocca arrived, two suspected Maoists riding a motorcycle shot dead Bhagawan Das Shrestha, named by the government to monitor local administration in Chitwan district in southern Nepal, outside a shop on Monday morning, police said.
Faced with growing international criticism - including from the United States and neighbouring India - the king lifted emergency rule last week while retaining some extraordinary powers.
In the first week of February Gyanendra told foreign ambassadors that he needed 100 days to create a "road map" to restore democracy. Rocca's visit comes three days ahead of that deadline.
"The king's deadline is an opportunity to focus attention again on this serious conflict," the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a statement.
It said at least 655 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in three months - 530 by security forces and 125 by the rebels - as violence continues.
The think tank called for concerted action by India, the United States, Britain and the United Nations to turn the situation around and reduce the danger of the Maoists.
Rocca will meet Nepali Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey on Tuesday and Gyanendra the following day.
Washington, a key donor of development aid to impoverished Nepal, welcomed the lifting of emergency rule but urged the king to restore civil liberties and to hold a dialogue with political parties that made up the sacked government.