Fourth Nepali killed by troops as protests flare

KATHMANDU, Apr 12 (Reuters) Nepali troops shot dead an activist today as violent pro-democracy protests flared for the seventh day across the troubled Himalayan nation.

The latest death is the fourth during a mass campaign launched by political parties last Thursday to force the monarch to end his absolute rule.

The royalist government relaxed a daytime curfew in the capital city Kathmandu, although protests continue to be banned and there was no indication of King Gyanendra trying to defuse the crisis.

Today's shooting took place in Nawalparasi town, 200 km (125 miles) west of Kathmandu, when hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police, Yogesh Bhattarai, a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), told Reuters.

Troops also opened fire at hundreds of activists in Jhapa town, to the east of Kathmandu, wounding several, one local journalist said. But local officials denied the shooting and said the protesters had only been baton-charged.

Hundreds of protesters defied a curfew in the western tourist resort town of Pokhara and clashed with police before some 200 were detained, witnesses said.

About 5,000 people marched through the main streets of Nepalgunj town on the Indian border, about 550 km (350 miles) west of Kathmandu.

But despite the relaxation of the curfew in Kathmandu, there was a relative lull in protests with only a handful of peaceful demonstrations.

The curfew had been imposed for several hours a day since Saturday in a bid to quell protests called by Nepal's seven main political parties against King Gyanendra's power grab 14 months ago.

GLOBAL PRESSURE Although political parties, businessmen, doctors and lawyers had vowed to stage a big demonstration in the capital today, stiff security foiled their plans. But ordinary people in Kathmandu, who poured into the streets with the curfew being lifted, said they were confident multi-party democracy would be restored soon.

''How long can they do this, how long can they beat people and arrest them and stop them?'' asked Krishna, a Kathmandu resident who gave only his first name.

''The king can't even control his son, how can he control the country?'' he said, referring to Prince Paras who was in the past known for his playboy image.

The mass campaign, backed by Maoist insurgents, had been due to end on Sunday but was extended indefinitely as stringent security measures prevented big rallies against the king.

Yesterday, troops shot at activists, wounding many, after they burned tyres, chanted slogans and clashed with police in Gongabu, a Kathmandu suburb.

It was the first time troops had opened fire in the capital during the latest anti-king campaign.

Gyanendra justified taking power in February 2005 saying politicians had failed to crush a raging Maoist revolt. But the turmoil in the troubled nation has only worsened since.

The Maoist conflict has killed more than 13,000 people so far and wrecked the aid-and-tourism dependent economy of one of the 10 poorest countries in the world.

International pressure has mounted on the king to end his crackdown and restore democracy.

The European Union, one of Nepal's largest donors, urged the king ''to take an urgent initiative to resolve the present problems by restoring democracy and by reaching out to all political forces to initiate a dialogue for peace''.

REUTERS