Protests To Continue In Nepal
Despite a promise by Nepal's king to return political power to the people of the Himalayan kingdom, opposition leaders have pledged to continue protests and their general strike.
King Gyanendra seized control 14 months ago, setting off a political crisis that has left his government increasingly unstable.
Earlier Friday, Gyanendra, who said his dynasty had an "unflinching commitment toward constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy," called on the seven main political parties to name a prime minister as soon as possible.
"Executive power ... shall, from this day, be returned to the people," he said in an announcement broadcast on state television and radio.
But exactly how such a transfer of power would take place was not clear, and it remained unclear if even that would mollify his political opponents, who have filled the streets of the kingdom with tens of thousands of protesters for days on end.
The king's address came as more than 100,000 pro-democracy protesters defied a government curfew and filled the streets on the outskirts of Nepal's capital Friday, as the U.S. ambassador warned that the king's regime could be nearing collapse.
As the tension built, state radio announced that King Gyanendra would address the nation later in the day.
Diplomats had been predicting the king would make an important announcement, trying to end the crisis engulfing his country. The U.S. ambassador warned that the unrest would force Gyanendra from power within days if he didn't do something soon.
Three separate groups of marchers, each numbering in the thousands, converged on an area on the western edge of Katmandu called Kalanki, where police shot three demonstrators dead Thursday and wounded dozens more.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene estimated the crowd at more than 100,000; independent Kantipur television said there were about 150,000.
They faced off against security forces that have ringed the city issued with shoot-on-sight orders against anyone who tried to enter the curfew zone.
As the tension grew, so did the international pressure on Gyanendra.
U.S. Ambassador James Moriarty bluntly warned that Gyanendra could be forced from power within days unless he makes major concessions to those who want him to relinquish the absolute power he seized 14 months ago.
"His time is running out," Moriarty said in an interview with several reporters. "Ultimately the king will have to leave if he doesn't compromise. And by 'ultimately' I mean sooner rather than later."
Earlier, an Indian envoy who met with Gyanendra on Thursday said he expected a "major announcement" later Friday that could defuse the situation.
"We are hoping that there will be some major step toward reinstating democracy," Karan Singh told reporters in New Delhi after returning from Nepal.
But despite the talk of possible compromise, the crackdown continued. Two senior opposition leaders involved in negotiations with communist rebels were arrested Friday as they tried to return to Katmandu, said Amrit Bohara of the Community Part of Nepal.
The two men, Jhala Nath Khanal and Bamdev Gautam, both leaders of the party, have been important conduits in negotiations between Nepal's seven main opposition parties and the Maoist insurgents who control much of the countryside.
The Maoists remain the biggest unknown factor in the crisis. Though they have recently allied themselves with the political parties, their history of violence and political extremism, they only recently were killing politicians, worries even their allies.
Shortly before his arrest, Khanal said he only hesitantly trusted the guerrillas.
"They talk about democracy now, but violence is a part of their philosophy," he said in an interview in New Delhi.
There was minor unrest at Friday's demonstrations.
One group of protesters destroyed a police checkpoint, a tin shack covered with barbed wire, tossing the furniture into the street. They then vandalized a government office, throwing out portraits of King Gyanendra before setting the building on fire.
Meanwhile, the death toll from two weeks of often-violent demonstrations against Gyanendra's seizure of power rose to 14 on Friday, after the death of a protester shot by police on Thursday.
At Kalanki, protesters claimed the area with a message scrawled in large red and white letters on the pavement, "Martyrs' square, long live the martyrs."
They waved the flags of opposition political parties and chanted, "Long live democracy! The blood of the martyrs will not go to waste!"
Nepal's crisis has escalated steadily since a general strike began two weeks ago and protesters have filled the streets daily, leaving the Himalayan country paralyzed and at its most volatile since the king seized power.
Government notices issued early Friday said a 9 a.m.-8 p.m. curfew must be observed in Katmandu, its suburbs of Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, and in the often-restive resort town of Pokhara, 125 miles west of the capital.
The notices warned people to stay indoors during the curfew and said those who violated it would be shot.
They said the curfew was imposed "to protect the people, property and peace."
The protester who died at a hospital Friday was among 26 people shot at Gulariya, 310 miles southwest of Katmandu, during Thursday's protests.
A Defense Ministry statement said security forces had to open fire Thursday because the situation was getting out of control.
It said 13 policemen were wounded in clashes with protesters who vandalized government offices and tried but failed to set them on fire.
At the Model Hospital, where many of the wounded protesters were taken, doctors wore black bands to protest the shootings.
Among the 66 wounded people brought there on Thursday were a 10-year-old boy with a gunshot wound and 5-year-old beaten by police, said Dr. Sarita Pandey.
Katmandu residents rushed to markets for food and other supplies before the curfew began. Shortages of fresh food and cooking fuel continued due to the general strike.
Notices posted around the city asked government workers to report to work before the curfew began.