King Gyanendra's whirlwind monsoon tour of far and mid-western Nepal brought thousands of people to the streets of towns across the region. Two years ago when the king visited these areas he was felicitated as a new king, this time he came as a political leader.

Besides just the curiosity to see the king, many who lined up here said they believed he was their best chance for peace. There was spontaneous applause as the king walked, greeting people, chatting and touching them lightly.

So far this week, the king has gone walkabout in Dhangadi, Kailali, Jumla and Dang and everywhere his message has been: "There is no need to fear the terrorists, we can defeat them if we unite." The message of peace is one that will resonate strongly in a desperately war-weary region but some here saw the royal tour more as a "barrack visit". The murder of the chief of the Banke monitoring committee Ajay Raj Singh in Nepalganj on Tuesday also showed that while the king and his entourage were well-protected, officials associated with the royal government are vulnerable.

Indeed, one of the king's concerns seemed to be to boost the morale of the security forces after the worst-ever loss for the army at Kalikot two weeks ago in which 55 soldiers were killed and another 60 captured. He also summoned zonal and district administrators to heavily-guarded army bases to instruct them to efficiently deliver services to the people. His message to them was to coordinate development projects with the military.

Seventy-year-old Sukundebi Chaudhari, a freed kamaiya who is among those who occupied government land near here after waiting in vain for promised farms, managed to slip a petition to the king. But even though her family had cleaned up their temporary camp, the king had no time to visit them. People also waited at the Seti Zonal Hospital for a visit that never happened, and in Dadeldhura thousands waited all day for the king but that visit was scrubbed because of bad weather.

Meanwhile, back in Kathmandu student unions affiliated to political parties continued to battle police on the streets defying a ban on protests near the palace. The king's tour came amidst speculation that he would announce rapprochement with the parties before his planned visit to New York in mid-September to attend a summit of world leaders at the UN.

NC leader Girija Prasad Koirala met UML's Madhab Kumar Nepal on Wednesday and insiders said they discussed a proposal for possible reinstatement of parliament and formation of an all-party government. Such an agreement would legitimise the king\'s proposed UN visit next month.

The Maoist online mouthpiece Janadesh warned the parties not to be hoodwinked by the king's effort to sow division by his ploy to reinstate parliament.