| Last Updated on 17:32 AZT- 16 April 2006 |

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Nepal's capital at near-standstill as anti-king protests continue KATHMANDU 16/04/2006 16:32 Nepal's capital is at a near-standstill with food and fuel in short supply and prices rising as protests continued for the 11th straight day against King Gyanendra's absolute rule.
Around a dozen hotel and restaurant workers were arrested after more than 1,000 protesters took to the streets in the tourist area of Thamel, an АFР reporter said. Other small rallies were staged Sunday in the capital and on the main ring road as police shied away from enforcing a ban on all gatherings. Opposition parties who have called an indefinite general strike said the demonstrations were growing. "Our movement will continue until we achieve our goals. People across the country have shown their support to our ongoing movement," said Yogesh Bhattarai, a spokesman for the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), one of seven major parties leading the action. The parties ousted when Gyanendra sacked the government and took direct control 14 months ago called a strike on April 6 in a move backed by Maoist rebels. The protests have since snowballed into daily clashes even though riot police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and baton charges against demonstrators and arrested hundreds of ringleaders. The government initially tried to prevent large-scale protests by banning public gatherings, calling day and night curfews, cutting mobile phones and rounding up hundreds of political activists. Under sustained pressure, the king on Thursday called for elections and the royal government has allowed more dissent while restoring services like mobile phones. But there has been no let up in the strike or protests. Public transport was unavailable Sunday with inter-city and local bus stands deserted and almost all businesses closed. Gasoline was scarce and long lines could be seen at the army and police-run pumps, the only ones still open. Prices for vegetables have soared on dwindling supplies. "Very few trucks supplying food have entered the Kathmandu valley over the past few days," said Binaya Shrestha, planning officer of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board which supplies 325 wholesalers in the capital. Housewife Rajnai Kumar said the price of onions rose to 100 Nepalese rupees (1.38 dollars) a kilogram (2.2 pounds) from 25 rupees two days ago. "How are we going to survive if the price continues to soar?" she said. Officials at state-owned Nepal Oil said the strike had cut supplies to the capital. "Not a single oil tanker has made it to the capital since the first day of the strike," a company official said on condition of anonymity. On Saturday at least 5,000 protestors marched on the ring road, waving flags and chanting anti-royal slogans. The protest briefly turned violent when marchers attempted to enter the city centre. Once foes, the opposition parties and Maoists entered a loose alliance last November, further isolating Gyanendra. The rebels, who have been waging a 10-year battle to topple the monarchy, have called a ceasefire in the Kathmandu valley to aid the protest campaign but have continued attacks on security forces elsewhere. Gyanendra has justified his power grab, which has drawn international criticism, by saying political parties had failed to crush the Maoist revolt that has claimed at least 12,500 lives
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