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Hundreds arrested in Nepal

Maoists shoot down army helicopter; mass rally on Saturday

Kathmandu: Over 1,000 protesters, including journalists, were arrested on the first day of the four-day nationwide general strike called by Opposition parties against King Gyanendra's direct rule in Nepal, where Maoists attacked Government offices and security camps leaving 11 persons dead.

Some 500 political activists were arrested from different parts of the capital Kathmandu as they took out protest rallies, Nepali Congress (NC) office secretary Sobhakar Parajuli said.

Among those arrested were Nepali Congress central committee members Dinbandhu Shrestha, Mina Pandey and Sujata Koirala, Nepal Communist Party-UML's central member Vidya Bhandari, veteran Communist leader Mohanchandra Adhikari, former MP Jagrit Bhetwal, central members of Peoples' Front Nepal Sashi Shrestha and Yamuna Bhual and NC (Democratic) central member Shivchandra Mishra, he said.

Over 500 more activists were arrested from various other parts of the Himalayan kingdom during the strike called by the seven-party opposition alliance, Nepali Congress sources said.

Clashes broke out between the riot police and protesters in different places in Kathmandu, Lalitpur district, Kirtipur municipality, Kalanki, Gongabun and Bhaktapur in which over a dozen activists were injured, two of them seriously.

Police resorted to baton-charge and also burst tear gas shells on protesters in different places, party sources said.

An army helicopter sent to help security forces in the south-east of the country was shot down, the Maoist rebels said on their website, marking ``the first time the People's Liberation Army has shot down an army helicopter.'' According to sources, the helicopter was carrying at least 10 securitymen. - Agencies

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