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Three protesters killed in Nepal

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 21, 2006

KATMANDU, Nepal - Tens of thousands of Nepalis defied a curfew to protest Thursday in the largest show of discontent with King Gyanendra since demonstrations against his royal dictatorship began more than two weeks ago. Security forces responded by fatally shooting three protesters.

The nearly two dozen demonstrations, which brought as many as 100,000 people into the streets around the capital Katmandu, ranged from festive prodemocracy rallies to angry riots of young men. Some demanded the death of the king, whose government appears increasingly unable to control the country.

Gyanendra came under more diplomatic pressure on Thursday to cede the power he seized 14 months ago from an interim government. India's special envoy met with the king Thursday.

Despite a curfew imposed to head off protests, an alliance of seven opposition parties that has organized 15 days of protests and a general strike managed to draw as many as 100,000 people into the streets, according to estimates by police, organizers and witnesses.

While there have been bloodier days since the protests began, Thursday's demonstrations dwarfed all earlier ones in the capital.

The worst violence came in Kalanki, on the city's western edge, where police trying to keep more than 10,000 protesters from reaching the ring road opened fire with tear gas, rubber bullets and finally live ammunition.

Doctors at Katmandu's Model hospital said three people were killed. More than 40 people were in critical condition. Thursday's shootings brought the death toll to 13 since the demonstrations began.

Hundreds more reportedly were injured around the city, including 13 police officers whose clearly exhausted colleagues were, by the end of the day, being forced against demonstrators by senior officers swatting them with rattan poles.

Elsewhere, security forces fired on violent demonstrators in the country's southwest, wounding at least 26 in the town of Gulariya, the Defense Ministry said.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal condemned the conduct of security forces, saying it was "without justification and inexcusable."

[Last modified April 21, 2006, 01:43:05]