- Title: NEPAL: MAOIST REBELS BLOCKADE OF ROADS AROUND KATHMANDU ENTERS ITS SIXTH DAY.
- Date: 23rd August 2004
- Summary: (W6) KATHMANDU (AUGUST 23, 2004) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 1. WS: SECURITY PERSONNEL FORMING A BARRICADE ON A ROAD. 0.05 2. WS: STREET SCENE. 0.10 3. MV: SOLDIERS STANDING WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE. 0.13 4. WS: MORE OF SECURITY PERSONNEL. (2 SHOTS) 0.20 5. SCU: OF PROTESTERS ARGUING AMONG THEMSELVES. (2 SHOTS) 0.41 6. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) POLICE INSPECTOR DURGA LAL CHOWDHURY SAYING: "No organisation has given any appeal for the blockade through news media. Neither we have said that a particular group is responsible for this blockade. It's largely because people are terrified and the blockade is the result of this fear psychosis." 1.06 7. WS: A SANDBAG BUNKER ON THE MIDDLE OF A HIGHWAY. 1.08 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) POLICE INSPECTOR DURGA LAL CHOWDHURY SAYING: "If the vehicle movement continues this way then within a week the normality will return." 1.20 9. WS: ARMOURED VEHICLE ON A ROAD. 1.23 10. WS: AN ARMY TRUCK NEAR THE BUNKER. 1.28 11. CU: COOKING GAS CYLINDERS LOADED ON A TRUCK. 1.30 12. VARIOUS: SOLDIERS UNLOADING GROCERY FROM A LORRY. (2 SHOTS) 1.37 13. VARIOUS: OF PASSENGERS UNDERGOING BAGGAGE SECURITY CHECK. (6 SHOTS) 1.59 14. MV: A SOLDIER STANDING AS BUSES MOVE BY. 2.03 15. TRAVEL: BUSES AND TRUCKS MOVING ON THE HIGHWAY. (2 SHOTS) 2.08 16. TRAVEL: OF ARMED SOLDIERS PATROLLING A HIGHWAY. (3 SHOTS) 2.19 17. VARIOUS: OF BUSES MOVING SOLDIERS ON ROAD. (2 SHOTS) 2.29 18. TRACK: A TANKER MOVING. 2.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 7th September 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KATHMANDU, NEPAL
- Country: Nepal
- Reuters ID: LVA1F91DVUX0RWTWUYXW2VXMD68K
- Story Text: Nepal Maoist blockade enters sixth day.
Police in Nepal said on Monday (August 23) the
success of a road blockade that has cut the capital
Kathmandu off from the rest of the country was largely due
to fear.
The Maoist blockade, which entered its sixth day on
Monday, has effectively closed all roads linking the
hill-ringed city with the rest of the impoverished
Himalayan kingdom.
The rebels have not set up road blocks or any other
obvious physical presence, but are relying on fear of
violence to enforce the blockage. Suspected rebels shot
dead a businessman in the capital on Monday, police said,
but the reason was not clear.
Inspector Durga Lal Chowdhury said people were
apprehensive of attacks from Maoist rebels.
"No organisation has given any appeal for the blockade
through news media. Neither we have said that a particular
group is responsible for this blockade. It's largely
because people are terrified and the blockade is the result
of this fear psychosis," said Chowdhury.
Meanwhile, military helicopters are providing air cover
to vehicles ferrying crucial supplies to the Nepali capital.
The move is aimed at boosting public confidence.
Chowdhury hoped normality will be restored within a week.
"If the vehicle movement continues this way then within
a week the normalcy will return," he added.
Soldiers continued to escort some buses and cars as
well as trucks carrying food and vegetables to the city
from the south under air cover by army helicopters.
Officials said more vehicles would arrive in Kathmandu
this week than last week and that adequate supplies were
arriving.
But deliveries of petrol, which comes from neighbouring
India, have been hit, leaving some petrol stations dry, and some
reside nts are stockpiling food. Flights have not been affected.
The blockade of the capital is the latest tactic by the
rebels, who are waging an eight-year-old rebellion to
topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy and establish a
communist republic.
More than 10,000 people have died in the revolt that
has also wrecked Nepal's economy, one of the world's
poorest.
There has been no violence connected with the blockade
and the rebels have not physically blocked highways or
stopped vehicles from moving in and out of Kathmandu.
The rebels are demanding information about their
comrades missing in the eight-year revolt, the release of
jailed comrades and a probe into the alleged killings of
their leaders.
The government promised to release information about
missing members of student and labour unions close to the
rebels but the guerrillas have yet to respond to the move.
Analysts said the government had failed to boost
people's confidence, leading to a strong fear of the rebels.
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