Nepal arrests anti-king activists
From Journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay
KATHMANDU, Nepal (CNN) -- More than a hundred political party workers were arrested in Nepal on Monday for staging anti-king protests, said Nepali Congress, one of the five parties opposing King Gyanendra's takeover of absolute power on February 1.
Forty-one Nepali Congress workers, including former parliamentarians, were arrested in the capital, Kathmandu, where they were picketing Singha Durba, the seat of government power, police said.
There were also major protests in eight districts outside Kathmandu where dozens of party workers were rounded up.
King Gyanendra dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's government on February 1, when he said in a nationally televized address that successive governments run by political parties had failed to counter the Maoist rebels.
The Maoists launched their "people's war" in early 1996 to establish a one-party communist republic in the impoverished Himalayan kingdom.
Since the king's action, Nepal has been under emergency rule and fundamental rights remain suspended, though the government has progressively relaxed his restrictions amid intense international pressure.
Many of Nepal's major donors have already suspended or have threatened to suspend international aid.
India, Britain and the United States, major suppliers of arms to Nepal, have put a hold on military supplies since the royal takeover.
They say resumption of military supplies, which remains crucial in Nepal's counter-insurgency operations, will depend on restoration of democracy.
