POSTED:
4:32 am EDT April 20, 2006
UPDATED:
4:32 am EDT April 20, 2006
KATMANDU,
Nepal -- Nepal's
crisis grew bloodier Wednesday when security forces fatally shot four
pro-democracy protesters as the government imposed a curfew in the capital to
prevent a huge rally urging the king to loosen his grip on
power.
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Two weeks
of often-violent protests and a general strike against palace rule have
paralyzed Nepal, leaving cities short of food and fuel and the country at its
most volatile since the monarch seized power 14 months
ago.
The royal
government has responded harshly, claiming Nepal's communist insurgents _ who
are now allied with the opposition _ have infiltrated rallies to sow violence.
Police have beaten, tear gassed and arrested thousands of
protesters.
A total of
10 Nepalis, including the four Wednesday, have been slain by security forces in
this Hindu kingdom once known as Shangri-La since the opposition launched a
general strike April 6.
Officials
claimed security forces opened fire only after being shot at during an assault
by brick-throwing protesters in Chandragadi, about 310 miles southeast of
Katmandu. The government has made such claims in the past, although no shootings
by protesters have been independently verified.
The
region's chief administrator, Bhola Siwakoti, also said the demonstrators defied
a ban on protests and were looting.
There were
conflicting reports of how many were killed. The Defense Ministry said two
people were dead, another Nepali official put the toll at four, and a U.N.
official said it was five. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity
because the situation's sensitivity.
The
shootings reinforced fears of more bloodshed Thursday, when the opposition hoped
to mass 100,000 people onto the ring road that skirts
Katmandu.
Trying to
off head the march, which would dwarf previous protests and undercut government
claims that demonstrators lack popular support, authorities announced a Katmandu
curfew from 2 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.
Soldiers
and police patrolled the streets on Thursday and had been ordered to shoot
violators; no passes were issued to diplomats, journalists and Nepali human
rights monitors _ groups that had received passes in the
past.
Opposition
leaders met Thursday at an undisclosed location and decided they would go ahead
with the rally despite the curfew. Krishna Sitaula of the Nepali Congress party
said protesters would gather at major entry points of Katmandu to try to break
through the police lines.
About 5,000
protesters rallied in Kirtipur, just southwest of Katmandu, but they did not
march toward the capital as earlier planned, local resident Arun Giri said by
phone. There was no curfew in the farming suburb so authorities allowed the
rally.
"The events
show how desperate the present royal regime is. It is becoming paranoid," said
Dhruba Adhikary of the independent Nepal Press Institute. "The movement is
getting popular, it is expanding and growing."
The
opposition campaign has brought ordinary Nepalis into the streets alongside
students and political activists. On Wednesday, some 250 professors held a
protest. All were arrested.
A few
thousand people also protested in Katmandu and demonstrators hurled bricks at
police, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and baton
charges.
While
nearly all here said they were hoping Thursday's protest would be peaceful, many
said they did not fear violence.
"If we are
faced with violence tomorrow, we will burn the palace," said Ankil Shresthra, a
22-year-old student. "The king will die."
Nepal's
Hindu royal dynasty was once revered as godlike, and the recent chants of "Hang
the king" in Nepal's streets are a major departure from past protests, like the
1990 uprising that led his older brother to introduce
democracy.
King
Gyanendra ended that experiment in February 2005, saying he needed to crush the
Maoist insurgency that has killed nearly 13,000 people in a
decade.
While many
of Nepal's 27 million people at first welcomed the king's power grab _
frustrated by squabbling politicians _ the worsening insurgency and faltering
economy have fueled discontent.
Gyanendra
is under enormous pressure from Nepal's major international partners _ the
United States and India _ to compromise with the political parties organizing
the protests.
India, a
burgeoning global power that does not want disorder on its doorstep, sent a
special envoy to press the king to reach a deal with the parties, who are
demanding a new constitution that would limit _ or eliminate _ the monarchy's
role.
"I am
always optimistic," Indian envoy Karan Singh said.
Hours
before Wednesday's shootings, the government freed two top opposition leaders
who had been jailed for three months. Both pledged to join the
protests.
No reasons
were given for their release, although many here saw the move as a government
attempt to appear conciliatory as the Indian envoy
arrived.
___
Associated
Press writer Binaj Gurubacharya contributed to this
report.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated
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