Mosque, Arab targets attacked in Nepal after 12 workers murdered in Iraq

AFP ^ | Sept. 1, 2004

[Alouette]

KATHMANDU (AFP) - Thousands of people rampaged through Kathmandu, setting fire to a mosque and Arab targets and ransacking employment agencies after 12 Nepalese hostages were murdered in Iraq.

Two men were shot and slightly wounded by security guards when they tried to storm the Egyptian embassy, which represents Iraqi interests in the Himalayan kingdom, police and a doctor said.

The streets returned to normal after the government clamped an indefinite curfew and declared a national day of mourning Thursday for the victims of the worst hostage massacre in Iraq since the US-led invasion.

Demonstrators, some chanting "Punish the Muslims!", swept through Kathmandu early Wednesday, throwing stones and ransacking any targets with Arabic-language script.

Protesters climbed on top of and set fire to the Jama Masjid mosque, the largest shrine of the city's small Muslim minority, after pulling out its furniture and electrical equipment for a sidewalk bonfire.

Riot police used batons to push the crowd of some 5,000 people out of a sensitive central area which includes King Gyanendra's Narayanhity Palace, a police officer said.

The mosque suffered only minor damage but many of its contents were destroyed.

The protests erupted late Tuesday after news that the 12, who left the impoverished nation in search of jobs, were murdered by militants who abducted them about 10 days ago.

The kidnappers accused them of cooperating with US forces.

A mob made up mainly of youths broke windows of more than a dozen employment agencies blamed for sending Nepalese to Iraq and set fire to their vehicles, furniture and computers, police said.

An employee at Qatar Airways, one of the main airlines used by Nepalese seeking jobs in the Middle East, said dozens of angry people stormed into their premises and smashed furniture before setting the building on fire.

The employee estimated damage in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Many protesters also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, saying he should take responsibility for the failure to free the hostages.

The government had repeatedly stressed that Nepal, which is fighting a bloody Maoist rebellion, was not part of the US-led coalition in Iraq.

Deuba appealed for calm in an address to the nation Wednesday.

"The terrorists who committed this gruesome act don't have any religion or principles. I call upon all citizens of Nepal to have patience," he said.

"We made honest efforts to save them but the militants never spelt out their conditions," Deuba said. "We are now trying our best to bring back the bodies of the victims."

His government announced compensation of one million rupees (14,400 dollars) for the families of each of the 12 slain hostages, a major sum in the one of the world's poorest countries.

The Himalayan capital's skies were patrolled by army helicopters, which were last called out last week when Maoist rebels fighting to overthrow the monarchy ordered a halt to traffic to and from the city of 1.5 million people.

Hindus make up more than 86 percent of the population in Nepal, the world's only officially Hindu state. But the kingdom has experienced little of the inter-religious violence that has scarred neighbouring India.

Muslims account for 3.8 percent of the 27 million population. Some 7.8 percent adhere to Buddhism in Nepal, which is the birthplace of the Buddha, with smaller religions comprising 2.2 percent.

Spontaneous protest strikes were called in the towns of Pokhara, Gorkha and Biratnagar with youths taking to the streets to stop vehicles.

A statement announcing the killings was posted on an Islamist website by an Al-Qaeda-linked group called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna.

It was accompanied by pictures of the grisly beheading of a blindfolded hostage, including one where his bloodied head was held up like a trophy by a hooded captor. A video showed the other Nepalese being shot.

[miltonim]

Nepalese Hostages Beheading and Executions Video (Graphic)

[itsamelman]

It's probably not the dog's fault. Another dog, perhaps one of its leaders like Yasser Arafat or Osama bin Laden, almost certainly infected it. It may look like a teenage Palestinian boy-- or today, even a teenage Palestinian girl. But that's your child it's menacing.

You can't negotiate with it. You can't reason with it. You can't talk it out of tearing your child's throat out and ripping her limbs off, as often happens when it uses a bomb. There is only one thing to do that's safe for your child, and it's probably the most humane thing for the dog as well. If you're part of civilized humanity, it's not only your right but also your responsibility to do it.

http://www.omdurman.org/leaflets/maddog.html

[TheCrusader]

it was a huge mistake to pi$$ off the Ghurkas.

[Leatherneck_MT]

Aren't the British Gurkas Nepalness?
If so payback will truely suck.

Yes they were and yes it will. I believe the Gurkas are no longer a part of the British Army tho. If I'm not mistaken, they were disbanded a few years ago.

[BlazingArizona]

Perhaps NOW we're gaining allies...

[ßuddaßudd]

We can and they know it.

[null and void]

Rev 9
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

[Chemist_Geek]

and to avoid driving normal people over to the side of evil.

And random pogroms and Krystallnachts against Muslims, as heartily approved of here by many Freepers, would do just that.

[ladyjane]

these extremists are going to instigate a world wide war on Islam if they keep this up, and lots of innocent people will be slaughtered.

Helllloooo - lots of innocent people have already been slaughtered,

[null and void]

Would you like to see all Jews worldwide held responsible for the actions of the Jewish terrorist Baruch Goldstein?

If Judaism has a sacrament requiring the murder of non-Jews, yes.

But Judaism doesn't.

But islam does...

[Chemist_Geek]

Yers, that's right, Of Course! There's a Vast Islamic Wing Conpsiracy! Duh! Every single last Muslim on Earth is an active terrorist! Duh!

[Leatherneck_MT]

I hear what you are saying but "cleaning house" with Islam will be like the Herculean task of cleaning the Augean Stables

Except stinkier

[Hop A Long Cassidy]

>>>"With another 9-11 type attack, I would expect to see a similar reaction in the US and likely calls for a wholesale roundup of Arab nationals for internment and deportaion."

I agree.

Repatriation is the answer, as they are not acceptable citizens. We took a risk, and "we" were wrong. So now they've got to go.

Hoppy

[MattinNJ]

Now those pics bring tears to my eyes. Go get 'em Gurkhas. The muslims messed with the wrong bull. Look at the fear in that muslims face as he is escorted away safely by the cops knowing that the Gurkhas know where he lives. The muslims are nothing but bullies. I predict a score of dead muslims in Nepal over the next few weeks and the Muslims will run like they always do. Maybe others on FR don't think we are in a world war but some of us know better.

Oh yeah, some muslims are holding SCHOOL CHILDREN hostage in Russia.

[Chemist_Geek]

You are advocating the targeting of innocent Nepali Muslims because of the actions of Iraqi terrorists. That would be like advocating the targeting of innocent Australian Jews because of the actions of Israeli terrorists. Get it?

No, they won't. It's all OK to them, 'cause it's dem eeeeevil "Moo-slimes" and of course they're fair game for anything.

It disgusts me to see just how inhumane and unAmerican some people on my side are.

[Flint]

Always been fond of the people in Kathmandu. Now I know why.