Nepal prince tended bar before massacre - reports

After he finished serving drinks, Crown Prince Dipendra reportedly started shooting

By staff and wire reports

KATMANDU, Nepal -- New details have been emerging of the events surrounding the weekend massacre of most of Nepal's royal family.

According to reports in the Washington Post and The Times of London, Nepal's Crown Prince Dipendra was tending a bar for his family before he began spraying them with submachinegun fire.

Quoting an immediate relative of a witness to the killings, the newspapers say Dipendra walked out of the family's regular Friday night gathering at about 9PM and changed into combat fatigues.

He then returned to the family gathering carrying an M-16 and an Uzi which he fired repeatedly for at least 15 minutes, virtually wiping out the Nepalese royal family.

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The Crown Prince is then said to have walked out of the palace and turned one of the guns on himself.

The new details come as Nepalese police announced that they had shot and wounded 14 people overnight Tuesday for violating a curfew imposed to quell public protests over what many are seeing as a government cover-up over the killings.

Police say another 460 were arrested for breaking the curfew.

Officially, there remains no explanation for the shootings.

A probe into Friday's shooting spree in the palace failed to start as planned on Tuesday, as members of the panel quarreled over how to proceed.

Observers say the delay could heighten tensions among Nepalese demanding an explanation of the killings.

The three-man investigative panel, appointed by the newly crowned King Gyanendra, had been expected to reveal its findings on the bizarre massacre by the end of the week.

Gyanendra had called Friday's fatal shooting an "accident," to the disbelief of many angry Nepalese.

Nepal lifted a curfew on the capital Wednesday morning, but soldiers continued to patrol the streets ready to crack down on any repetition of the riots that followed last Friday's palace bloodbath.

Gynanedra was crowned following the death on Monday of his nephew, Dipendra, who was king for less than 48 hours while lying in a coma.

Dipendra was named as monarch despite being the prime suspect in the shootings.

The commission faces the tough challenge of investigating members of a monarchy that is revered by millions of Nepalese.

According to the Nepalese constitution, neither the government nor any other body can interfere in or question the acts of the palace, but King Gyanendra has departed from that tradition.

Royal family quizzed

For the first time in its centuries-old history, Nepal's monarchy has opened the doors of its palace to allow an investigation into the fatal shooting of 10 members of its royal family.

Members and records of the royal family, once considered beyond reproach, will be subjected to questioning by the investigative panel.

The newly proclaimed King Gyanendra has appointed Supreme Court chief justice Keshay Prasad Upadhaya to head the panel.

But the inquiry failed to get under way Tuesday when the main opposition United Marxist Leninist (UML) party objected to way the body was set up and said it would not take part.

The investigation was seen as a bid by Gyanendra to win the trust of Nepalis who for the first time in recent history have greeted a new monarch with hostility.

Gyanendra's enthronement Monday was followed by rioting and protests that left two people dead and at least 19 injured.

"He will have to work very hard to instill confidence in the people and regain the respect that his worthy brother had gained," Krishnna Prasad Bhattarai, former prime minister and ruling party leader said.

King Dipendra is carried to a funeral pyre

Nepal's newly crowned king faces an uphill battle in securing support, with many Nepalese refusing to accept him.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has warned Americans in Nepal to remain indoors and said it would urge others to defer travel to the country.

Dhirendra Shah, the youngest brother of the new king, who had renounced his claims to royalty after marrying a foreigner, became the 10th victim when he died of his injuries on Monday.

In his first television address to a bewildered nation, the new king appealed to the people's loyalty to his family dynasty.

Gyanendra's ascension to the throne gives him little power -- Nepalese monarchs are heads of state, but do not govern -- and he will likely have a tough task gaining the support of many Nepalese

The late King Birendra enjoyed great popularity, particularly since he ceded absolute power in favor of a British-style constitutional monarchy in 1990.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.