- Title: NEPAL: General strike called by Maoist rebels ahead of elections enters third day
- Date: 7th February 2006
- Summary: WIDE SHOT INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS VEHICLES DRIVING
- Embargoed: 22nd February 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nepal
- Country: Nepal
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4BAUG93IFCBM0KW1HE8FOJMKH
- Story Text: Soldiers and riot police patrolled deserted streets across Nepal on Tuesday (February 7, 2006), as a week-long general strike called by Maoist rebels entered its third day. The Maoists, who want to overthrow the monarchy, began a nation-wide shutdown campaign on Sunday (February 5). Guerrillas called the countrywide closure of transport, businesses, factories and educational institutions to disrupt Wednesday's (February 8) municipal elections ordered by King Gyanendra, who fired the government and seized full power last year.
Kathmandu's usually bustling shopping districts and crowded streets have been deserted since the strike began, and more troops have been posted in and around the hill-ringed capital. The government has asked people to ignore the strike but residents are scared.
Sita Khadka, a Kathmandu housewife, said she was not sure if she and her family would participate in the country's first local election in seven years. In the past, the rebels have punished those who disobey them. "We don't know whether we will vote or not. So far no one has approached us for voting," Khadka said.
Maoists rebels have carried out a series of bomb blasts across the country and are blamed for killing two election hopefuls and for shooting and wounding another.
On Monday (February 6) night hundreds guerrillas attacked an army security post in Panauti town, 30 km (20 miles) east of Kathmandu.
A police officer said rebels killed a cab driver late on Monday in the temple town of Lalitpur on the outskirts of Kathmandu, apparently for defying their call for the week-long strike. The shutdown also spread to the western part of the country with shops and businesses closing and students staying home.
Government offices were still open and employees walked to work. The election has been boycotted by main political groups. Political leaders say that they fear the king will use the polls to further tighten his grip on power. They are demanding that the king hand power back to an all-party government. Gyanendra, who has justified his take-over as necessary to quell the insurgency, has promised to restore democracy in three years but Nepal's key donors say that is too late. More than 13,000 people have died since the Maoist launched the revolt in 1996. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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