The U.S. State Department ways Washington is deeply disappointed and concerned by the the Nepalese government's seizure of equipment from a private radio station in Kathmandu.
Kantipur FM had used the equipment to transmit radio programs produced in Kathmandu to a relay station in east Nepal.
The State Department says a free media is one of the hallmarks of democracy, and repeated a call for King Gyanendra to restore multi-party democracy in Nepal.
Hundreds of journalists demonstrated in Kathmandu Sunday against media laws that prohibit broadcasting from more than one location and ban private stations from broadcasting news.
Criticism of the royal government and independent reporting on the country's communist insurgency have been banned in Nepal since King Gyanendra seized absolute power in February.
Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.