Police crush protest, rebel Maoists storm jail as crisis deepens

Nepali police smothered the first political protest against King Gyanendra's assumption of power and suspension of civil liberties, arresting the handful of demonstrators who turned up.

About a dozen people were thrown into vans by police in riot gear yesterday, as they reached a heavily guarded traffic intersection in the centre of Kathmandu.

"Give our rights back! Democracy is in our soul!" shouted one woman, before she was bundled off.

Another protester waved a black cloth as police grabbed him. "Withdraw the royal proclamation," another shouted.

Elsewhere, Maoist rebels launched simultaneous attacks on a jail, a branch of Nepal's central bank and two police stations in the remote western town of Dhangadi.

The Maoists broke open the gates and stormed the jail after a 90-minute gun battle with police, and freed about 150 prisoners, including rebels, an Army statement said.

It was the rebels' first major strike since Gyanendra's power grab.

Five police were killed in the attack in Dhangadi, 660km from Kathmandu and a Maoist stronghold.

The body of one rebel was recovered from outside the jail and the Army believed the Maoists had taken away more of their fallen comrades.

The bank and police station attacks were repulsed by soldiers, the Army statement said.

In Kathmandu, activists hoped the protest in the centre of the capital would help ignite a nationwide campaign against the monarch's decision last week to sack the Government and suspend civil rights.

Their efforts were mainly thwarted by grim-faced police.

"It has been a successful protest in the current situation. At least some people managed to come out," Balaram Neupane said before he was whisked away by police.

"Today's protest will give courage to other people. This won't stop, it will carry on," he said.

Gyanendra sacked the Government, saying its leaders had failed to hold elections or restore peace amid an escalating civil war with Maoist rebels, who began a revolt in 1996.

The move was condemned around the world and Nepali rights groups called on foreign governments to force the king to restore democracy.

In one of the first signs that he was trying to ease tension, Gyanendra released seven arrested political leaders, including two former Prime Ministers unlikely to lead protests.

Officials said at least 31 people remained under house arrest or detention but would be released.

Gyanendra's late brother, King Birendra, ended absolute monarchy and introduced parliamentary democracy in 1990, opening the way for a succession of fractious governments.

Gyanendra came to the throne in 2001 after a drunken Crown Prince killed Birendra and eight other members of the royal family before taking his own life.

- REUTERS