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Nepal general strike beings { March 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aWtCI3da.Lg8&refer=asiahttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aWtCI3da.Lg8&refer=asia
Nepal's General Strike Begins; Annan Condemns Arrests (Update1)
April 6 (Bloomberg) -- A four-day nationwide strike began in Nepal after the authorities arrested opposition activists on the eve of the latest protest to demand that King Gyanendra lifts emergency rule in the Himalayan country.
Shops closed and public transport shut down early today, Nepalnews.com reported. Dozens of opposition activists, journalists and students were arrested yesterday and the authorities imposed overnight curfews yesterday in the Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts, it said. Police arrested dozens of party officials today in Kathmandu, the report said.
The government's efforts to maintain law and order ``should not be the basis for denying citizens their right to peaceful protest, a right for which virtually all avenues seem to be closing,'' United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement late yesterday.
Nepal's seven-party opposition alliance and rebels fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist republic called the strike. King Gyanendra imposed emergency rule when he fired the government in February 2005 for failing to end a 10-year insurgency that has cost the lives of 13,000 people in the Himalayan country of 27 million people.
Leaders of the Nepali Congress party, the largest in Nepal and one of the seven parties forming the alliance, were among those arrested today as they organized protests, Nepalnews.com said, citing unidentified party officials.
Rallies Banned
The authorities in the Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts earlier this week banned public gatherings to coincide with the strike, Nepalnews.com reported at the time.
Home Minister Kamal Thapa said two days ago the government will take steps to control protests during the strike. Authorities will use ``minimum force'' to stop the opposition's protest programs, Thapa said, according to Nepalnews.com. He didn't elaborate.
Thapa said the protests mask a ``dangerous'' program by the rebels, who follow the ideology of China's Mao Zedong. ``Since the Maoists are also involved in the general strike, the government must foil it,'' he said.
Rebels two days ago declared a unilateral cease-fire in the Kathmandu valley around the capital to coincide with the strike.
The Communist Party of Nepal - UML said its order ``to cease all military activities'' came into force April 3. The truce will expose government charges that rebels are infiltrating the capital for the strike, said Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the rebel leader known as Prachanda. Government ministers dismissed the truce as a ploy to allow rebels to rearm.
Rebel Attacks
Rebels killed five police officers in an attack late yesterday in the southeastern district of Sarlahi, Nepalnews.com said, citing unidentified security officials. At least six members of the security forces were killed yesterday in a separate incident when their vehicle was ambushed by rebels in the Jhapa district, about 600 kilometers (373 miles) east of Kathmandu, it said, citing the Royal Nepalese Army.
Annan, in his statement, appealed ``to all sides in Nepal to work towards ending the conflict through a reciprocal cease-fire agreement,'' according to the UN's Web site.
The government last week asked the seven-party alliance to break its agreement with the rebels and resume talks on ending the political crisis in Nepal.
New Constitution
The alliance has reached an agreement with rebels to press for a return to democracy and curb the powers of the king. The opposition wants parliament reinstated, an all-party government formed, talks with the rebels to begin and the creation of an assembly to draw up a new constitution.
Nepal's insurgency has damaged its economy, which depends on tourism for foreign exchange. The country, located between India and China, is home to Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, and eight other of the world's 14 peaks higher than 8,000 meters (26,248 feet).
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world with 40 percent of the population of more than 27 million people living below the poverty line. Agriculture accounts for 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product and provides a livelihood for 80 percent of the population.
Last Updated: April 6, 2006 03:26 EDT
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