Nepal vows to hold polls 'at any cost'

"The elections will be held at any cost," Home Minister Kamal Thapa told a press conference. "All the security arrangements are complete."

Rebel Maoists have said they would "take action" against candidates standing in the election, and have called for a week-long general strike intended to shut down the whole of Nepal, timed to coincide with polling day on February 8.

"Those who try to foil the elections will be dealt with according to the law," the minister said, without clarifying what punishments would be imposed.

A seven-party opposition alliance, kicked out of power when King Gyanendra took total control in February, have said that the elections are a sham, and that they will encourage people to abstain from voting.

"The so-called municipal polls will not solve the present political problems in the country," Subash Nemwang, a leader of the Nepal Communist Party (United Marxist and Leninist) told AFP by telephone after the minister's announcement.

"They (the royal government) are trying to hold elections to legitimise their activities, so we are boycotting the polls."

The local elections are part of the king's 'roadmap to democracy' plan, which proposes local elections next February and then general elections in 2007.

Foreign powers have been urging the king to restore democracy to the troubled nation as soon as possible, but there has been no indication that the king is bowing to international pressure.