'Nepal parties to launch protest' / BBC News |
Heutiger Bericht von BBC News:
'Nepal parties to launch protest' King Gyanendra has sacked the government, declared a state of emergency and imposed media censorship for six months. He placed Mr Deuba and members of his cabinet under house arrest on Tuesday. The BBC's Charles Haviland in the capital, Kathmandu, says it is becoming clear that as the king, backed by the army, tightens his grip on power, sources of dissent are being ruthlessly blocked. There are accounts of students being fired on in one town, and of numerous arrests of potential demonstrators around the country. 'More democracy needed' Nepal's national human rights commission says that after students demonstrated in the central town of Pokhara on Tuesday, the army raided their hostel at around midnight. The commission says crying was heard from inside amid the sound of shooting and that it believes many students had been injured. At least 250 students were believed to have been detained. Mr Rijal told the BBC that Nepal's problems could not be solved by more authoritarianism, but only by more democracy. He said the king would fail and end up weakened despite his increased powers Mr Rijal said that the government never thought that the king would take such drastic action. Curtailing freedoms Mr Rijal said political parties would soon launch peaceful protests against the king's actions, although cutting of phone lines had made coordination difficult.
Brigadier General Dipak Garum told the BBC that it was necessary to curtail freedoms to let the security forces concentrate on fighting the Maoist rebels. On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Maoists ruled out any possibility of talks with the king. It is not clear what the king has in mind if the rebels fail to re-enter peace negotiations. The rebels had refused to hold negotiations with the last government, saying they needed a direct dialogue with the king. Now they have condemned the clampdown. |
Abgeschickt von am 04. Februar 2005 um 09:40 Uhr |