Nepal grinds to halt as rebel strike takes effect
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-05 16:44

Hundreds of soldiers and riot police guarded government buildings and patrolled deserted streets across Nepal on Sunday, the first day of a week-long general strike called by the rebels.

The guerrillas called the countrywide closure of transport, businesses, factories and educational institutions to disrupt Wednesday's municipal elections ordered by King Gyanendra, who seized full power last year.

They have carried out a series of bomb blasts across the country and are blamed for killing two election hopefuls and for shooting and wounding another.

The government has asked people to ignore the strike but residents were scared.

"I can't risk my life," said Kathmandu taxi driver Purna Khadgi, 31, as he locked his car in a garage. "They might note down the number if I take it out now and attack me later."

In the past, the rebels have punished those disobeying them.

On Sunday, normally a working day in the Hindu nation, streets usually choked with traffic in the crowded capital of Kathmandu were empty except for cyclists, cycle rickshaws and pedestrians.

A few taxies operated but with their number plates either covered or removed so they could not be identified. Soldiers at street corners stopped cars for checks. A few shops had their shutters half open.

The congested tourist district of Thamel, popular with foreign tourists, was deserted.

"It's annoying. This is bad for business," said Jennifer Glen, a British tourist in Thamel. "I'm not sure if this will achieve anything."

Glen said although she did not feel worried, she would not venture into some parts of town where trouble could erupt.

ARMED ESCORTS

Domestic and international flights, however, operated normally and tourists were ferried in special vehicles with armed escorts and large labels that said "Tourists Only".

Last month, the guerrillas, who control large swathes of the hinterland, ended a four-month truce after the government failed to match it. More than 13,000 people have died in the 10-year conflict, at least 120 of them since the truce ended.

Residents in the western town of Nepalgunj, the resort town of Pokhara, also in the west, and the business towns of Birgunj and Biratnagar in the east, said transport services were off the roads and businesses shuttered.

Tens of thousands of students stayed at home as schools closed on Sunday.

Government offices were open and employees walked to work. Gyanendra, who has justified his takeover as necessary to quell the insurgency, has promised to restore democracy in three years but Nepal's key donors say that is too late.

People said they felt helpless.

"No one is willing to compromise in this conflict," said a senior government official in the western district of Dang, the gateway to the rebel heartland. "And innocent people are suffering in the process. We don't know when this will end."