Nepal's Maoist rebels kill election candidates

Nepali authorities have asked election candidates to move into police compounds to protect them from Maoist rebels suspected of killing at least one candidate in their efforts to disrupt the municipal polls.

Several hopefuls running for seats in Kathmandu and surrounding suburbs in the February 8 elections have taken up the offer and moved into fortified camps throughout the capital, government and police officials said on condition of anonymity.

The officials, who would not give their names due to the sensitivity of the subject, said they had instructions to protect all candidates, including posting policemen at homes of those who do not move into police camps. Some candidates have refused all protection.

The country’s Maoist rebels have joined with an alliance of the country’s main political parties in opposing the municipal elections, saying they are a ploy by the royalist government to validate King Gyanendra’s seizure of absolute power a year ago.

The rebels have threatened “severe action” against candidates unless they withdraw from the race by tomorrow, and in recent days have been blamed for the slaying of one candidate, the abduction of another and a brazen raid on the home of a mayoral candidate that left him injured.

Some candidates said they would continue to campaign in the open.

“I still have not taken the protection from the government and I have not felt the need to,” said Rajaram Shrestha, a mayoral candidate in Katmandu.

Another mayoral candidate, Krishna Shahi, claimed some people tried to plant a suspicious package at his house but were chased away by neighbours.

“I have refused the offer to have policemen outside my doors,” Shahi said.

Dal Bahadur Rai, a mayoral candidate in a Kathmandu suburb, was in critical condition after he was shot twice by gunmen who broke into his house and then opened fire on Monday, said Roshan Karki, assistant minister for local development.

Karki said Rai had declined to have police protection.

“We had repeatedly offered to provide security but he refused,” she said.

Relatively few people have dared to announce their candidacy for the municipal elections, with more than half of the 4,146 seats open nationwide drawing no candidates.

Nepal’s rebels have been fighting since 1996 to replace the impoverished country’s monarchy with a socialist government. The civil war has killed about 12,000 people.

The guerrillas have intensified their assaults on government troops since they ended a unilateral cease-fire on January 2, accusing the government of failing to match the pledge.

Gyanendra sacked an interim government on February 1 last year and assumed direct control over the government, arguing the takeover was necessary to fight the communist uprising and end corruption.