Police clash with protesters in Nepal

POLICE battled protesters in Kathmandu's narrow alleys yesterday, using batons and tear gas to beat back stone-throwing students on the second day of a strike called by adversaries of Nepal's King Gyanendra.

The number of pro-democracy advocates arrested swelled to more than 750, a government minister said.

A post office in the capital was set on fire and students at Kathmandu's Tribhuwan University ransacked the dean's office and briefly held several officers hostage.

The hundreds of angry students were joined in protests by ordinary workers, professionals and business owners - a sign, the opposition said, of building momentum against the king.

Of the 751 people arrested over the past three days, 115 were sent to prison under a tough public safety law that allows authorities to jail people without charge for 90 days, Home Minister Kamal Thapa said.

King Gyanendra called for calm in a speech broadcast live on national radio and television.

The general strike is also backed by the rebels, who have fought for a decade to oust the king and establish a communist state.