Police Clash With Nepal Protesters

Police fired rubber bullets at thousands of protesters on the eastern edge of the Nepalese capital on Sunday, injuring at least three, news reports said.

Thousands of anti-monarchy protesters were trying cross into the city limits of Katmandu, where an 11-hour curfew has been imposed, when police first fired tear gas and then opened fire with rubber bullets, the independent Kantipur television said.

The crowd quickly dispersed after the shooting and the injured were driven to hospital in a U.N. vehicle, the report said.

In other areas of Katmandu, small groups of protesters defied the daytime curfew, a day after tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of the capital, clashing with security forces who fought back with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

The city center on Sunday was guarded by soldiers patrolling in armored personnel carriers, who seemed to be concentrating on areas where protesters had earlier rallied.

The army had strung barbed wire to block off some inner alleys and major intersections on Sunday.

Dozens of people were badly hurt in Saturday's clashes as protesters, opposition leaders and Maoist insurgents loudly and sometimes violently rejected King Gyanendra's offer to return to a multiparty democracy.

Opposition alliance leaders say the king's offer fell short of a key opposition demand - the return of Parliament and election of a special assembly to write a constitution.

"Down with Gyanendra! Gyanendra out, out!" many chanted as they moved toward the sprawling palace compound on Saturday.

A government announcement said Sunday's curfew would run for 11 hours in the capital and its main suburbs of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur.

Nepal's crisis has escalated since a general strike called by the parties and the Maoists began April 6.

Protesters have filled the streets daily, leaving the country paralyzed and the situation dangerously volatile. Security forces firing at protesters have killed at least 14 people and wounded many more.

It appeared unlikely the protesters will support any deal with Gyanendra, whose nation was once better known for its trekking routes, beautiful scenery and Mount Everest.

The chaos has worried the international community, who fear the political crisis could spark renewed humanitarian crises in Nepal, already one of the world's poorest countries.

Many also worry that a political vacuum could give the Maoist rebels - who have seized control of much of the countryside in a bloody, 10-year insurgency - a route to power.

In Thapathali neighborhood Saturday, soldiers and police fired rubber bullets and live ammunition as protesters tried to head toward the palace, wounding at least four people, doctors said.

Soldiers in armored vehicles and lines of riot police blocked key intersections leading to the palace, occasionally turning back crowds with tear gas and baton charges. An army helicopter hovered overhead.

One wave of protesters came within a few hundred yards of the compound before being forced back by tear gas.

Umesh Dhakal of the Nepalese Red Cross Society said 243 people had been injured in the clashes, with 39 requiring hospitalization. Many were hurt in stampedes as they tried to flee the fighting.

Associated Press writers Matthew Rosenberg and Tim Sullivan contributed to this report.