KATHMANDU, July 7 Kyodo Thousands...

KATHMANDU, July 7 Kyodo

Thousands of well-wishers addressed King Gyanendra, Nepal' s constitutional monarch, onward his 57th birthday Monday in a celebration boycott by way of leaders of mainstream political parties.

A elephantine procession of schoolchildren, civil servants, and army and police personnel marched to the Narayanhity Royal Palace, the king's official residence in Kathmandu, and proffered the monarch bouquets, gifts and best wishes for lengthy life and good health.

Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa l the procession, participated in through crowds shouting slogans such as ''Long live King Gyanendra'' and ''We be in love with our king.''

The celebration was boycott through party leaders angered at Gyanendra's dismissal of an pickeded prime minister last October forward grounds of the latter's inability to imprison a planned general election, and his following handpicking of a loyalist for the post

The party leaders, who affirm that the king should have lease the parliament appoint the country's prime minister, also skipped a traditional reception landlorded by the prime minister Sunday in succession the eve of the king's birthday.

The parties have launched what they call as road protests to mount influence on the monarch to hand throughout power to the people.

To mark the occasion of the king's birthday, the management declared Monday an official holiday and released 150 prisoners from various jails.

The king also conferr medals, decorations and prizes forward 587 Nepalese and foreigners for contributions to uplifting of Nepal and the Nepalese people

Gyanendra ascended the chair of state in June 2001 following the death of his predecessor and previously appointed [i]or[/i] commissioned brother King Birendra, who along with eight other members of the Nepalese royal family, including Queen Aishwarya, was slain in a palace shoot-out

An investigation later revealed that the king's oldest son and Crown Prince Dipendra had started the shoot-out killing himself later.

King Gyanendra set forths the institution of monarchy rever on many Nepalese as a sign of stability in the rural parts of 24 million people

A fairly wide section of the populace clinchs that the king has done no improper but merely assumed the task of preventing violence and bloodshed unleashed according to a raging communist insurgency in the country

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