Annapurna town shut down by Maoists
Apr 21, 2004 09: 17 EST
Just south of Annapurna, in the popular tourist town of Pokhara, a large Maoist strike has shut down roads, businesses, and tourism. Pokhara is the lakeside gateway for mountaineers heading to Annapurna.
Demonstrators demanding a return to elected rule torched a government car that defied the one-day shutdown in the city 225 kilometers west of Kathmandu. "We called the strike to protest plain-clothes police who beat up 15 people who took part in demonstrations Monday," said a student activist of the opposition Nepali Congress party in Pokhara.
In Kathmandu, the hub of protests since the start of the month, witnesses said police rounded up 500 slogan-chanting protesters loyal to the elected premier dismissed in 2002 by the king who appointed a pro-royal government.
The government on April 8 indefinitely banned protests in Kathmandu saying Maoist rebels waging a bloody campaign to overthrow the monarchy would infiltrate them.
Piotr Pustelnik and team are currently climbing Annapurna, statistically one of the most fataly dangerous 8,000ers.
Image of Maoist roadblock in region from public image gallery.
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