Maoists blockade empties Nepali roads

The Maoist rebels, who are trying to topple the monarchy, have urged political parties and citizens to launch a resistance movement against Gyanendra after he sacked the government, detained top political leaders and suspended civil liberties.

Saturday was the first day of what the rebels said was an indefinite blockade and transport strike to coincide with the ninth anniversary of their revolt, in which more than 11,000 people have been killed.

Until noon, barely 20 vehicles had entered hill-ringed Kathmandu from the Nagdhunga checkpoint on the main highway linking the capital with India.

Officials at the checkpoint said thousands of vehicles, many bringing in oil and food supplies, normally enter through the heavily guarded entry point.

"It is down to a trickle compared to what we usually get," said police officer Basudev Thapa.

The king's decision this month to take absolute power has prompted protests from many countries.

India, which has its own Maoist rebels in the northeast of the country to worry about, fears the move will fuel the Nepali rebellion.

Diplomats worry Nepal could descend into anarchy and become a haven for international militants or drug traffickers.

Last August the Maoists imposed a successful week-long blockade on Kathmandu, relying on threats rather than physical action. The blockade stoked a fuel shortage and prices of essential goods jumped.

Officials say Kathmandu, a city of 1.5 million people, currently has two weeks of oil and enough food to last a month.

Soldiers and armed police patrolled deserted mountain highways on foot, checking the few buses and cars on the road running past terraced fields beneath snow-capped mountains.

Meanwhile, King Gyanendra has assured India that the emergency he slapped on Nepal this month would not last long, a report said yesterday.

King Gyanendra told Indian ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee that the emergency measures he introduced on February 1 were only intended to be in a place for a short time, the Himalayan Times English daily said.

Mukherjee, who was granted a royal audience this week, said the king also explained in detail the reasons for his decision to sack the government, impose the emergency and assume absolute power.