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Protest over killings shuts down Nepal's capital
Associated Press - November 20, 2008
Binaj Gurubacharya, Katmandu – Activists chanted slogans and halted traffic by burning tires in Nepal's capital in a general strike Thursday protesting alleged killings by former communist rebels who head the country's coalition government.
Schools and markets were closed in Katmandu and several vehicles that tried to defy the strike were attacked and vandalized.
Strikers accuse members of the Young Communist League, the youth wing of Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) which leads the coalition government, of killing two supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), the second largest communist party in the Himalayan nation. Although the two communist parties are partners in the government, there have been several clashes between their members over influence and control of voters and trade unions.
The Young Communist League has denied involvement in the deaths. Its chief, Ganesh Pun, told reporters Thursday that it did not kill the two men and was also investigating the incident.
The two men were abducted last month and their bodies were found Tuesday buried in a river bank. Witnesses said they saw the men being taken from a restaurant by people identified as Maoists.
Police and the National Human Rights Commission are investigating the killings.
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