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KATHMANDU, Friday (AFP) Nepal will not be under emergency rule when it heads to controversial polls November 13, caretaker prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was quoted as saying.

The state news agency RSS said Deuba told reporters Wednesday in the southwestern district of Banke that there would be no emergency "during the election." It did not give further details.

The emergency, which gives authorities sweeping powers to detain and interrogate suspected Maoist rebels and to impose curfews, was imposed in late November by King Gyanendra on Deuba's advice after the guerrillas broke a four-month ceasefire with a flurry of attacks.

Harsh emergency measures restricting freedom of press and assembly were relaxed in February.

Gyanendra dissolved parliament on the premier's recommendation in May as the house looked set to defeat an extension of the special measures. The king then prolonged the emergency by decree for another three months.

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