Posted on 04/22/2006 3:10:48 PM PDT by generalhammond
DOZENS of Nepalese pro-democracy protesters were injured today when police fired on thousands who defied a curfew to march on the centre of the capital.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Demonstrations were reported in several spots in and around Kathmandu as protesters headed towards King Gyanendra's palace, defying his offer to end 16 days of protests by announcing a return to multi-party democracy. More than 80 protesters were taken to the Kathmandu Model Hospital suffering from bullet wounds, beatings and tear gas, said doctor Sarita Pandey.
Twelve were in a critical condition, the doctor said.
The demonstrations came as the country's seven party opposition alliance formally rejected the king's televised pledge as too little, too late, refusing to join the Government and saying peaceful protests would continue.
"The king in his royal proclamation has failed to address the issues of the seven party alliance's roadmap and the understanding reached with the Maoists," the alliance said in a joint statement.
"There is no way we can join the government and our general strike and peaceful protest will continue." An AFP reporter saw 50 police charge a crowd of thousands who gathered near a park in the centre of the city.
The road was left littered with hundreds of pairs of shoes left by fleeing protesters.
Witnesses reported that the army surrounded the Narayan Hiti Palace, where Gyanendra was thought to be in residence.
The king ordered a new eight hour curfew put into effect today.
Demonstrators defied the order, burning tyres and hurling stones before marching on the centre of the city as an army helicopter circled overhead.
Crowds lined the route to cheer demonstrators and threw water on them to keep them cool.
"I'm not satisfied with the king's address yesterday," said one marcher, 18-year-old student Ravindra Nepal.
Another marcher, a Maoist sympathiser who declined to be named, said: "We must remove the king from Nepal. This is our demand."
An alliance of opposition parties launched a nationwide general strike on April 6 to force the king to relinquish the absolute power he took in February 2005.
Gyanendra responded with a security clampdown which left more than a dozen dead, hundreds wounded and even more under arrest.
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Pro-democracy protesters - another MSM euphamism for communists, undoubtedly funded well by China.
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