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KATHMANDU, NEPAL, August 18, 2004: An indefinite rebel blockade of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, has stopped food and other supplies reaching the city. Two major roads linking Kathmandu with the rest of the country are virtually deserted. There are few visible signs of the Maoists, but drivers are staying off roads through fear of reprisals. The Maoist demands include the release of detained rebels and an inquiry into the killings of others. They say they will halt supplies to the city indefinitely unless their conditions are met. Security forces in the country have been placed on high alert.



The BBC’s Charles Haviland in Kathmandu reports a heavy army presence on the main arterial road leading to the Indian border. Only a few buses, minibuses and trucks have been travelling through the Kathmandu valley. They are travelling in both directions, protected by army convoys. A local brigade commander promised military escorts for anyone wanting them. He said the Maoists were using propaganda to terrorize people. The Maoists are now targeting Kathmandu to show their strength. But lorry drivers remained reluctant to defy the rebels.



“Who is going to take such a big risk? Even if we get protection today, they [the rebels] could take action for refusing their order tomorrow or even next week,” one driver, Mahesh Lama, told the Associated Press news agency. Some truck drivers had covered their number plates for fear of reprisals. In Kathmandu itself, a United Nations official told the BBC that cars and vans were circulating as usual, but there have been no trucks bringing in supplies. Kathmandu has a 10-week stock of food and other vital supplies, the Nepal Consumers’ Forum told AFP. Hira Udas, chief of a local transport federation, said the blockade had stopped 2,000 vehicles coming into Kathmandu. Hundreds of people were also stranded at the main bus station, unable to leave the city. Analysts say the rebels are blockading the capital to step up the pressure on the government to resume peace talks on their own terms. An emergency meeting of government ministers and security officials reportedly went ahead on Tuesday, but a spokesman refused to comment on how the government had decided to respond to the blockade.



The government also refuses to disclose how many rebels are in detention. Amnesty International says atrocities are committed on both sides of the conflict. It says rebels are guilty of attacking and even summarily executing people who criticize them. But the government’s campaign to crush the rebels is “completely unaccountable,” a spokesman told BBC News Online. About four people accused of rebel involvement “disappear” every week and people are routinely detained for longer than the 90 days allowed by law. The Maoist rebels have been engaged in an armed struggle since 1996 to replace the monarchy with a communist republic. About 9,000 people have died in violence between the rebels and security forces since then.

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