Nepal Troops Kill Two Protesters

Security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters in southeastern Nepal, killing at least two and wounding several others, an official said.

Details were scarce, but the chief administrator of the town of Chandragadi, Bhola Siwakoti, said security forces had to open fire to stop protesters from throwing rocks at police. The town is about 300 miles southeast of Katmandu.

The latest deaths bring to eight the number of people killed by security forces in two weeks of protests and a general strike against the rule of King Gyanendra.

Earlier, Nepal's royal government freed two top opposition leaders on Wednesday, three months after they were detained, officials said.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal, and Ram Chandra Poudel, senior leader of the Nepali Congress, were freed on Wednesday, according to the Katmandu District Court.

No reasons were given for the release. They were driven to the court house and freed after signing some papers.

"We will launch the protest (against the king) in an effective way until full sovereignty is returned to the people," Madhav Kumar Nepal told reporters after his release.

They have been detained since Jan. 19, just before opposition parties planned to hold a mass rally in Katmandu against King Gyanendra's rule.

The release also coincides with the visit of an Indian government special envoy who arrived in Nepal on Wednesday for talks with the king and opposition leaders to resolve the present crisis in Nepal.

Karan Singh was scheduled to Madhav Kumar Nepal on Wednesday evening, according to the party.

The government earlier in the day had given security forces orders to shoot violators on sight in another town where thousands of pro-democracy protesters clashed with police a day earlier.

The government also imposed a daylong curfew in the city of Pokhara, about 125 miles west of Katmandu, a day after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in a clash with thousands of protesters, injuring at least a dozen people.

State-run Radio Nepal said anyone violating Wednesday's order to stay off the streets of Pokhara — a town popular with foreign and local tourists — would be shot.

Police arrested 250 college and university professors who defied the curfew order and took to the streets in Pokhara.

Krishna Adhikari, a professor who was among those arrested, said the academics had conducted a peaceful rally when police suddenly stopped them, loaded them up in police trucks and drove them to detention centers.

"We condemn the police breaking our peaceful rally," Adhikari said speaking on his cellular phone.

Police did not open fire on the professors despite the 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. curfew.

A woman killed in Nepalgunj was among thousands of protesters who on Tuesday stormed a monument being built for King Gyanendra in the town's main square, which had been named after the monarch.

She died in a hospital later that evening, said Binod Adhikari, the chief government administrator in the area, after being tear-gassed.

Adhikari said the security forces were compelled to use some force to bring the situation under control at Nepalgunj, which also is about 310 miles southwest of the capital, Katmandu.

Two policemen were also critically hurt in the clash.

He said there were fresh protests on Wednesday to protest the death of the woman.

Protests continued on Wednesday in several towns and cities across Nepal.

In Katmandu there were smaller rallies but opposition parties were gearing up for the mass rally scheduled for Thursday on the outskirts of the capital city.

The violence comes amid a general strike called by Nepal's opposition political parties aiming to oust King Gyanendra, who seized power last year after sacking an interim government.

The United States, meanwhile, again urged Gyanendra to restore democracy with White House press secretary Scott McClellan saying in Washington that the unrest in the country "will only worsen."

"Arrests and violence accompanying the pro-democracy demonstrations only add to the insecurity and compound the serious problem facing Nepal," he told reporters.

Nepal's royal government on Tuesday summoned U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty to protest the envoy's remarks that if the Himalayan nation's king did not compromise with his opponents he could end up fleeing the country.

Meanwhile, a special Indian envoy arrived in Katmandu on Wednesday to hold discussions with the king and the opposition parties.

"I bring good wishes for people of Nepal and bring prayer and hope that Nepal will get out of difficult situation and return to peace," Karan Singh said. "I am always optimistic."

Singh was scheduled to meet the king on Thursday and begin discussion with opposition leaders immediately after his arrival.

The strike has forced shops to close and vehicles to stay off the streets for 14 straight days in this Himalayan kingdom, causing shortages of food and other necessities in Katmandu.

Drivers on Wednesday lined up at gas stations in the city and shoppers searched for cooking gas after armored military vehicles escorted a convoy carrying the capital's first supplies since the unrest began.

Twenty-three trucks and buses on Tuesday brought in badly needed salt, bananas, potatoes and onions, as well as kerosene and gasoline.

In a sign that government workers have also begun to publicly defy the king, 25 Home Ministry employees walked out of work chanting anti-king slogans on Tuesday. All were arrested along with three journalists covering the protest, an official said on condition of anonymity due to fears of retribution.

Gyanendra seized direct power last year, arguing the move was needed to restore political order and crush a Maoist insurgency that has left nearly 13,000 people dead.

The opposition's campaign, which began April 6, is the worst unrest since Gyanendra's power grab, with increasing numbers of Nepal's 27 million people frustrated by the intensifying insurgency and faltering economy.

The royal government has responded harshly. Police have beaten, tear gassed and arrested thousands of protesters.