Five politicians abducted in Nepal

NEPAL: With 62 days left for a crucial election and a deep political crisis gripping Nepal after the Maoist militants quit the government and pledged to oppose the polls, the security situation continued its downward spiral with five politicians being abducted in the south of the country.

Two politicians belonging to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party, a third from the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist - the second-largest party in the coalition government - and two more local leaders where abducted from Bishrampur village in Rautahat district, that has been one of the most violence prone spots in the Terai plains.

Though there were no immediate claims of responsibility, the abductions are suspected to be the handiwork of a band of former Maoists, the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha led by former senior Maoist leader Jay Krishna Goit, who has warned he would oppose the November 22 elections.

The kidnappings come as the toll in clashes in another southern district continue to rise. While the official media said at least 14 people were killed in the violence in Kapilavastu district triggered on Sunday by the murder of a local strongman, an independent daily on Thursday put the death toll at 23.

Kapilavastu district continued to remain under curfew for four days after a spate of arson, looting and lynching by a frenzied mob after Abdul Moit Khan, a politician who enjoyed the blessings of the palace as well as Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's Nepali Congress party, was shot dead on Sunday.

Soon after King Gyanendra seized power with the help of the Army in 2005, Khan led a vigilante group in Kapilavastu that began attacking Maoists, killing at least 12 people.

Meanwhile the US government warned Nepal's restive Maoists against trying to "trash" upcoming elections that are crucial to the poor Himalayan country's future.

To decide sensitive questions of constitutional change and the role of the monarchy in Nepal, it is "essential" to consult the voters, top State Department official Richard Boucher said.

"We're glad to see the elections scheduled for November and we think it's very, very important that everybody respect that and that everybody go through that polling process. "Trying to trash this election is trying to trash the whole process," the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia said at Washington's Johns Hopkins University.

"Declaring yourselves an opponent to the democratic voting process, we can't abide that. So I hope they won't go that far," Boucher said.

Kathmandu, Friday, Asian Age, AFP