Police in Nepal have arrested at least 120 anti-government activists across the country who defied a ban on protests to show their anger at King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power last month.

In the capital, Kathmandu, police detained more than 40 protesters who gathered near the Central Secretariat building, shouting slogans such as "Down with autocracy, we want democracy."

The rest of the people were detained in similar demonstrations in nine other cities across the Himalayan kingdom.

Monday's protest in the capital was the largest since February first, when the king dismissed the government, declared a state of emergency and suspended civil liberties.

He said he did so to defeat an escalating Maoist insurgency that has claimed more than 10,000 lives since 1996.