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Curfew enters in its 3rd day in Nepalese capital+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)KATHMANDU, April 10_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: INCORPORATES EARLIER STORY HEADLINED 'NEPAL REBELS LEND SUPPORT TO PARTIES' BID TO END AUTOCRACY') A daytime curfew entered its third day in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Monday as leaders of a seven-party alliance raising anti-king protests across the country, claimed the pro-democracy movement had attained new heights. The curfew was imposed from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Kathmandu and adjoining cities to stem street rioting. Home Minister Kamal Thapa said Sunday the curfew would be stricter from Monday in the face of rallies to protest King Gyanendra's direct rule. Leaders of the alliance of seven major political parties Monday claimed the protests have expanded in both scope and intensity with a wider section of the populace participating in them across the kingdom. The state has no power to control the popular sentiment, three alliance leaders said. General Secretary of the Nepali Congress Party (Democratic) Prakash Man Singh said the protests would continue until Nepal's "unconstitutional government is toppled." "The king-led government has no legal authority to rule," he added. Nawaraj Subedi, general secretary of the leftist United People's Front, said, "The nation is being swept by a hurricane of popular movement for democracy, and it does not seem likely to stop until the goal is reached." Ram Sharan Mahat, joint general secretary of the Nepali Congress Party, cooperation from every sector, including the warring Maoist rebels, was "welcome" in realizing the goal of the movement, which is to write a constitution drawn by the people in Nepal. "But the movement is our agenda, and not that of the rebels. It is our program, and it is our method, which is peaceful," Mahat, a former Nepalese foreign minister, said. The government insists Maoist rebels are behind the anti-king protests being carried out across the kingdom. Top insurgent leader Prachanda said Sunday in a statement that the warring party had taken the alliance's pro-democracy agitation as that of the rebels who are running a violent decade-long insurgency that has claimed more than 13,000 Nepalese lives. Prachanda, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), said his party lends support to the decision by the mainstream political parties to continue their struggle to end the king's absolute rule. Prachanda reaffirmed the rebels' commitment to uphold and honor all understandings reached with the political parties, and said the insurgents would try to work together with the political parties at the village level. The Maoists would also try to take control of all highways in the country and pull down statues of kings and monarchs, he said. |