Maoists call off blockade

"We called off the blockade at the request of human rights organisations, civil society and the political parties of Nepal," said general secretary of the Tamang Regional People's Government (TRPG), Kumar Moktan.

The blockade had been organised by the pro-Maoist TRPG to protest the disappearance of rebel activists in army detention, and had halted most traffic on Kathmandu's main north and west road arteries.

The protest hit the Kathmandu valley where some 1.5 million people live and forced up the price of commodities in the area by some 25 to 75 percent.

The group however threatened to reimpose the blockade if the disappearances continued.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Kathmandu on Monday to call for an end to the increasingly bloody conflict between Maoist rebels and security forces that started in 1996 and has claimed more than 11,000 lives.