Hundreds protest for Nepal's "disappeared"

KATHMANDU, June 18 (Reuters) About 300 relatives of people who disappeared during Nepal's decade-long Maoist conflict protested in Kathmandu today demanding to know the fate of their loved ones.

Protesters carrying placards bearing photographs of their relatives sat outside Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's official residence demanding the whereabouts of family members detained by troops in the civil war.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has received reports of 943 people who went missing - presumed kidnapped and murdered - in the war.

Nepal's Supreme Court asked the government this month to pay compensation to dozens of families of the missing people and investigate disappearances.

Last week, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists said Nepal's interim government should quickly investigate thousands of disappearances.

Officials said the government would set up a panel to probe complaints, part of a peace deal with the Maoist former rebels who have since joined the political mainstream.

Human rights groups accuse government troops as well as the Maoists of gross human rights violations including kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, killings and disappearances during the war which claimed more than 13,000 lives.

REUTERS JK VV1735