Nepal's Maoist rebels call for nationwide strike

A Maoist rebel call for a nationwide strike today went largely unheeded in the Nepali capital of Katmandu – overshadowed by this week’s political crisis unleashed when the king sacked the government and claimed tight control over this Himalayan nation.

Rebel demands for a general strike usually bring the country to a virtual halt, with residents staying home out of fear of reprisals by angered guerrillas. But cars filled the streets of Katmandu today and most shops were open.

With phone service cut across the country and only limited news reporting allowed since King Gyanendra declared emergency rule earlier this week, the rebel demands may have gone largely unheard.

The Maoists, inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have gained control of much of rural Nepal since 1996 when they launched their campaign to replace the monarchy with communist rule. More than 10,500 people have died in the fighting.

The king on Tuesday dismissed an interim government, accusing it of failing to control the insurgency or to hold parliamentary elections, taking power for himself and largely shutting the country off from the rest of the world.

Gyanendra’s new government said yesterday that it would reach out to the Maoists to renew peace talks. The announcement came shortly after the king appointed a new 10-member Cabinet heavily dominated by his own backers.

“The king has the chief executive authority now, so it will be easier for the rebels to come for peace talks,” Home Minister Dan Bahadur Shahi said in comments carried on state radio.

The Maoists broke off peace talks in August 2003. The rebels balked at later invitations from the government of ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to renew the talks, insisting that real authority remained in the hands of the king.

Nepal remained largely isolated today, with telephone and Internet lines cut and soldiers overseeing the publishing of the country’s once-independent newspapers.

This week’s developments in Nepal’s constitutional monarchy were a throwback to the era of absolute power enjoyed by the royals before King Birendra, Gyanendra’s elder brother, introduced democracy in 1990.

The king has suspended freedom of the press, speech and expression, and the right to peaceful assembly, privacy, and freedom from preventive detention.