Nepal King Orders Protesters Shot on Sight KATMANDU, Nepal - Protesters in Nepal postponed a demonstration planned for Saturday after the king imposed a curfew and ordered violators shot on sight. Khadga Prasad Oli, deputy leader of the Communist Party of Nepal, called the curfew "unneccesary, illegal and illogical" and said the protesters would try to hold the rally on Sunday. Seven main political parties organized the rally to press the king to restore democracy. It was to be the high point of a four-day nationwide strike that ends Sunday. Protesters clashed with police in Katmandu and surrounding areas on Thursday and Friday. Hundreds of people were arrested and dozens were injured. The protesters have the backing of communist rebels, who are separately fighting against the king's rule and formed a loose alliance with the political parties in December. Gyanendra dismissed the government early last year, saying he needed full powers to check the growing communist insurgency, which has killed some 13,000 people since 1996. The rebels battled government troops in two southwest towns Friday. Details were sketchy, but government buildings were reportedly bombed and the jail attacked in the town of Taulihawa. Officials said the curfew was in response to information that the rebels would try to infiltrate the rallies and wage terror attacks against government targets. The curfew began at 10 a.m. Saturday and was to continue until 9 p.m. in Katmandu and two suburbs for security reasons, the government announced on state-run Radio Nepal. Violators would be shot, it said. "There is no ground for this," Oli said in announcing the rally would be delayed a day. Authorities have cracked down forcefully on the protests. On Friday, police used batons and tear gas to beat back hundreds of protesters in Katmandu, many of whom who were throwing rocks. A post office in Katmandu was set on fire Friday, and students at the capital's Tribhuwan University ransacked the dean's office and briefly held several officers hostage. Ordinary workers, professionals and business owners joined the protest — a sign, the opposition said, of building momentum against the king. Of the more than 750 people arrested the past three days, 115 were sent to prison under a tough public safety law that allows authorities to jail people without charge for 90 days, Home Minister Kamal Thapa said. "The government is using minimum force to control the situation," Thapa told reporters. The rebels have promised not to wage attacks in Katmandu during the strike, but have stepped up attacks elsewhere. Earlier Friday, the rebels raided two army camps and a police station . They severed communication at the three sites, leaving police with no information on casualties in the raid, a police official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Gyanendra called for calm in a speech broadcast live Friday on national radio and television. "Let us all pledge today to devote time for establishing permanent peace," he said. "It is the need of today to establish permanent peace." The remarks were the king's first public words about the daily protests and the escalating violence from communist rebels. The strike, running through Sunday, shut down public transport in the capital, and hundreds of people walked to work or stayed home. Shops and schools were shut. Gyanendra says he was forced to seize power in February last year because of the growing communist insurgency, which has killed some 13,000 people since 1996. ___
May offer a good idea though, go to the rallies where folks are protesting keeping illegals out of the country and start checking green cards.
