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| Friday, 5 September 2003 |
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Nepal parties set to defy ban on protests KATHMANDU, Thursday (Reuters) Nepal's main political parties said they would defy a protest ban and hold a rally to demand King Gyanendra sack a royalist prime minister and appoint a popular government in the revolt-racked country. The Himalayan kingdom this week banned public demonstrations in Kathmandu for three weeks, saying the move was aimed at maintaining law and order in the nation where a seven-year revolt by Maoist rebels has claimed nearly 7,300 lives. The ban came after opposition groups said they planned protests to press for the prime minister's removal. "About 1,000 people will sit on the streets at Ratnapark (a main city intersection) and block traffic for one hour to defy the ban," said Arjun Narsingh K.C., a spokesman for the Nepali Congress, the country's largest party. "We will launch peaceful protests," he told Reuters. Officials said troops were on high alert and security had been stepped up to avoid trouble. More than 100 party supporters had been detained ahead of the rally, they said. The ban on protests in and around the capital was imposed after Maoist rebels, fighting to replace the constitutional monarchy with communist rule, called off a truce last week and stepped up attacks on security forces. The ban outlaws gatherings of five or more people and those defying it can be sentenced to up to three years in jail. The 56-year-old monarch plunged the country into a crisis last October when he fired Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba amid a row over the timing of national elections and named loyalist Lokendra Bahadur Chand in his place.. |
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