Nepal clamps curfew on capital
2006-04-22 09:51
Kathmandu - A new curfew and orders to shoot-on-sight were imposed on Saturday in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, now into its third week of pro-democracy protests, state-run television said.
The curfew was imposed from midday Saturday to 20:00 pm local time, Nepal Television said ahead of a meeting of the country's seven-party opposition alliance to plot the next step in their pro-democracy campaign.
Late Friday, King Gyanendra asked the opposition to name a new prime minister after two weeks of bitter demonstrations demanding the restoration of multi-party democracy in the Himalayan nation.
The three main parties in the alliance immediately said that was not enough and vowed the protests would go on.
The curfew announcement came as protesters gathered at the edge of Kathmandu where felled trees blocked the city's ring road.
A few thousand people massed at Gongabu on the northern edge of the capital, where they threw stones, burnt tyres and kept security forces from the centre of the suburb, an AFP reporter witnessed.
Several hundred also massed in the Kathmandu suburb of Kalimati, chanting: "We don't believe the king's proclamation. Our movement goes on."
Gyanendra sacked the government in February last year and assumed absolute control, blaming the country's politicians for failing to quell a Maoist insurgency that has left some 12,500 people dead over the past decade.
- SAPA