Kathmandu frees pro-democracy marchers
Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Scmp) - Police have released more than half the 100 opposition party officials detained at a weekend pro-democracy rally in Kathmandu as protesters vowed to hold more demonstrations.
The democracy activists, chanting anti-monarchy slogans, were detained on Sunday when riot police used tear gas to try to stop them entering a restricted area.
"We will continue our campaign to restore democracy despite the government crackdown," Ram Sharan Mahat of Nepali Congress, the country's largest political party, said yesterday.
In February, King Gyanendra fired the government and seized power in a military-backed coup, accusing it of corruption and failing to tackle a Maoist insurgency which has claimed 12,000 lives since 1996.
Sunday's protests, in which 20 people were injured, came a day after the Maoist rebels declared a unilateral three-month ceasefire and hours after a rebel spokesman said they were unwilling to negotiate further unless the king handed power to an interim government.
Madhav Kumar Nepal, the leader of the communist faction CPN (UML), said protests would continue.
Among the arrested were top politicians, including Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister and president of Nepali Congress.
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