200 held in Nepal protests
2006-04-07 10:11
Kathmandu - Police arrested at least 200 people for defying a ban on protests in Nepal's capital on Friday, firing teargas and beating protestors with bamboo sticks, according to activists and witnesses.
"At least 100 people from Nepali Congress and 100 from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) were arrested on Friday morning," Shovarkar Parajuli of the Nepali Congress Party said.
The arrests came on the second day of a four-day general strike called by opposition parties against King Gyanendra's seizure of power more than a year ago, which has paralysed the Himalayan kingdom.
The royal government has banned meetings, locked up dozens of political leaders and arrested hundreds of people for breaking a protest ban.
- AFP