Protests mark Nepal takeover anniversary

KATHMANDU - Street protests erupted across Nepal yesterday on the first anniversary of King Gyanendra's power seizure despite his promise to hold national polls by 2007.

The protests came after Maoist rebels killed 19 police and soldiers in an overnight raid on Palpa town, targeting army barracks, police posts and government buildings.

Hours after the attack, Gyanendra, who sacked the government and seized executive power on February 1, 2005, promising to bring peace and prosperity, reiterated his call to communist guerrillas to shun violence and join the mainstream.

"Representative bodies at all levels will be activated by April next year," a grim-looking king said in a televised address to the nation.

"Let us unite to establish a meaningful democracy by burying bitter differences of the past," he said, speaking in Nepali. "All Nepalis want lasting peace and ... this is possible only through peaceful and constructive efforts."

But on the streets of Kathmandu, where Reuters reporters saw nearly 20 armoured personnel carriers, hundreds of activists emerged from narrow lanes into the heart of the city shouting slogans and throwing stones and bricks at riot police before they were caned and chased away.

Dozens, including 30 journalists protesting against curbs on media freedom, were detained.

The demonstrators shouted slogans such as "Gyanendra, leave the country", "Down with monarchy" and "Boycott elections".

Some activists waved black flags before they were snatched by police. Hundreds of activists and political leaders were also detained on Tuesday.

Police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators in Kathmandu while they fired tear gas at them in the eastern town of Biratnagar, witnesses said.

In Mahendranagar in western Nepal, police fired in the air to scare away protesters, political party officials said. More than 500 activists had been detained across the country, they added.

Maoist guerrillas, fighting to topple the monarchy and establish a single-party communist republic, attacked Palpa, 300 km west of Kathmandu, late on Tuesday, killing 16 policemen and three soldiers, an officer said.

The rebels also freed more than 100 prisoners from a local jail and cut communication links to the region, authorities said.

Gyanendra threw Nepal into turmoil a year ago when he fired the government, jailed politicians and suspended civil liberties, triggering widespread protests at home and drawing stinging international criticism.

The king said his takeover was needed to crush an insurgency that has left more than 13,000 dead since 1996.

The monarch, who wore a black formal jacket and a traditional Nepali cap for his 20-minute speech, made no direct reference to a campaign for democracy by political parties nor did he mention any possibility of negotiating with them.

He said rebel violence had fallen under his rule and was limited to scattered incidents. But official figures this week showed more people had been killed in 2005 than the average annual number of fatalities in previous years.

Although the king has eased some of his tough curbs, analysts say he is nowhere close to fulfilling his promises to crush the Maoists, bring peace and good governance, and then restore democracy within three years.

Analysts fear that continued instability in the country, wedged between Asian giants India and China, could make it a failed state and a haven for terrorist groups.

The king has called municipal elections for Feb. 8 in what his ministers say is a first step towards restoring democracy.

But the political parties, sidelined in planning the polls, have vowed to boycott a vote they see as another confrontational move to sideline them, and have entered into a loose alliance with the rebels.

- REUTERS