Protests resume amid curfew in Nepal despite King's offer

Kathmandu, Apr 22: Defying the shoot at sight curfew order imposed here today, thousands of people have taken to streets as part of anti-monarchy protests despite the king's promise to restore multi-party democracy.

''The announcement of the king to recommend Prime Minister is a conspiracy, do not compromise with the king,'' the demonstrators shouted rejecting the king's announcement yesterday.

The king had said that he has handed over executive power and asked the seven parties alliance to recommend the name of Prime Minister to form a new interim government.

The royal government has announced an eight-hour long curfew in the Kathmandu valley from 1200 hrs today.

Demonstrators have vandalised the Gyanendra chowk in Mahendranagar in western Nepal as fresh clashes between the protesters and police erupted this morning.

Meanwhile, government denied handing over the body of Basu Ghimire, who was killed in the Kalanki demonstration on Thursday, to his family and cremated it forcefully at Pashupati Aryaghat yesterday, a leading newspaper, the Kantipur reported.

Ghimire's family wanted to cremate the body in his hometown Makwanpur. The security forces, however, forced Ghimire's wife, Sunita, to sign a paper that declared that she received the body.

According to Sunita, policemen approached her four times yesterday, and pressured her to sign a paper that declared Ghimire a ''terrorist''. She refused to sign the paper saying ''My husband is not a terrorist. He was bread-earner for the family''.

Condemning the government act, Tarun Dal, the youth wing of Nepali Congress, said Ghimire was its member and declared all the four killed in Kalanki on Thursday, as martyrs. Demonstrations are being held in various parts of the capital today including New Baneshowr, Koteshwor, Kalanki, Basundhara, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur in the Kathmandu valley.

The Seven-party alliance and civil society leaders of Nepal have said King Gyanendra's proclamation was incomplete, ambiguous and a conspiracy to defuse the ongoing people's movement.

A meeting of seven parties is being held and the official reaction will be announced shortly, the leaders said.

More than half million people participated in yesterday's demonstrations in the capital, the local media said.

The parties, which have launched the fresh protests since April 6, said that the revival of the House, formation of an all party government including Maoists and election of the constituent assembly were their minimum demands.

People from all walks of life have expressed solidarity with the movement.

Meanwhile,the European Union has condemned the royal government against opening fire on demonstrators to suppress pro-democracy protests, saying it marked a watershed in the country's political crisis.

''The use of live ammunition against demonstrators marks a watershed in the crisis,'' the Austrian Presidency of the EU said in a statement.

''The Presidency of the EU roundly condemns the use of these and other excessive measures by government forces to curb pro-democracy protests,'' it said, adding that a long curfew had aggravated the already difficult lives of ordinary people.

Human rights groups and UN agencies have also condemned use of excessive force against pro democracy supporters.

UNI