Police beat pro-democracy demonstrators with batons in the Nepalese capital yesterday and shot tear gas to break up an anti-government protest, injuring at least 12 people.

About 15,000 demonstrators marched through the center of Katmandu as part of a general strike called by Nepal's major political parties to protest the government's recent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.

About 50 protesters were taken away by police.

Police in riot gear used bamboo batons to beat some demonstrators. Tear gas and water canons were also used to disperse the crowd.

"Our protests are against the recent crackdown on peaceful demonstrations, which is our constitutional right," said Subash Nemwang, of the United Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Nepal, before the rally.

The strike paralyzed the capital, as political turmoil in this Himalayan kingdom deepened.

Schools and businesses were closed in Katmandu and its suburbs. There were no vehicles on the capital's streets, as hundreds of policemen in riot gear patrolled the city to prevent any protests or violence.

It is the first strike called by Nepal's five major parties since they launched protests against King Gyanendra over his dismissal of the elected government in October 2002. Faced with near daily protests calling for fresh elections, the government last month issued an order banning all public gatherings in the capital.

Last week, police used force to disperse defiant demonstrators throughout the Himalayan kingdom, beating them with batons and arresting dozens.

The country largest political parties - the Nepali Congress party, United Marxist Leninist Communist Party of Nepal, Nepal Workers and Peasant's Party, Nepal Sadbhawana Party and United National Front - sponsored the strike and the rally.

Subash Nemwang, a senior leader of the opposition Nepal Communist Party United Marxist amd Lennist, said the stirke aimed to close peacefully all school, factories and markets and halt transportation.

The government had urged the opposition to call off the strike.

Nepal has been hit by political turbulence since King Gyanendra dismissed an elected government and replaced it with a pro-monarchy one in October 2002, as Maoist rebels stepped up attacks following the collapse of a cease-fire.

The king had accused the former prime minister of being incompetent and failing to control the Maoist insurgency, which has claimed more than 8,500 lives since 1996.

The government is now headed by Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, a loyalist to the king.

Demonstrators have been calling for immediate parliamentary elections, claiming the current government is unconstitutional, but the king has ignored the demands.

The rebels, who claim inspiration from late Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, want to abolish the country's constitutional monarchy and set up a communist state.