Nepal's King Gyanendra has announced he is 'handing over power to the people', and invited the political parties to nominate a new prime minister.
The announcement came in a TV address to the nation at 2.15pm Irish time.
It comes after 12 people died and hundreds were injured in more than two weeks of violent protests across the kingdom.
The political parties alliance launched a nationwide general strike on 6 April to try to force the king to relinquish the absolute power he grabbed in February 2005 when he sacked the government.
Just before the king spoke, a curfew on the capital was extended by a further four hours, bringing it to midnight local time.
Despite the curfew, protestors had gathered on the main ring road in Kathmandu throughout the day, and skirmishes with police and troops took place.
The strike has crippled Nepal and prompted India to tell the king to restore democracy urgently to halt mounting civil unrest.
Protestors burned tyres and threw logs and barbed wire across the streets to block movement of police and troops.
A government revenue office on the outskirts of the capital was burned today and there were street battles with police elsewhere in the city. There was no word of serious casualties.
