Nepal frees communist leader, resumes mobile services

The Nepalese government has freed the chief of the Communist Party of Nepal-(United Marxist Leninist)from house arrest two days after King Gyanendra ended a state of emergency in the country, officials said in Kathmandu Monday.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, chief of the Communist Party of Nepal-(United Marxist Leninist), the country's biggest communist party, was released on Sunday, said Katmandu district administrative chief Baman Prasad Neupane.

Another communist leader, Amrit Kumar Bohara, was also freed, according to Neupane.

The government also restored mobile phone services, run by state-owned Nepal Telecom.

The government had cut off all phones and blocked internet access when it imposed the emergency, but restored landline services after a week.