'Arms' shut Kathmandu down

Suman Pradhan / TNN / Sep 14, 2006, 01:31 IST

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The Maoist action resulted from erroneous news reports that the Army had brought 40 truckload of weapons from India.

KATHMANDU: Rumours that the Nepal government had imported arms from India, shut down the Nepal capital briefly on Wednesday as Maoists blocked off streets and dispatched a team to block army trucks, which the rebels claimed, were laden with weapons from India.
Hordes of Maoist activists barricaded major thoroughfares in Kathmandu, burnt tyres on the streets, and warned transporters to stop plying on the streets.
"The Army is bringing arms when we are being asked to disarm," shouted an angry protester in Kathmandu's Lagankhel neighbourhood as he stopped vehicles on the street.
Panicky shopkeepers downed shutters and parents dashed off to schools to fetch their children, fearing a clash between rebels and security forces. But three hours later, the situation slowly returned to normal.

The Maoist action resulted from erroneous reports in local newspapers that the Army had brought 40 truckload of weapons from India. Kantipur newspaper reported that its correspondents had seen a convoy on the main highway leading up to the Nepali capital.
Maoist sources said they had sent a team of fighters to the highway to block the convoy from reaching the capital. They also called for an indefinite strike in Kathmandu.

A joint-ceasefire monitoring committee too rushed to Gajuri, a small village on the highway, to verify the reports. But government sources said, it found no weapons.
Nepal is four-and-half months into a fragile cease-fire. The government and Maoists are negotiating a more permanent peace agreement with the help of UN mediators. But the talks have hit a snag over the issue of who'll control the state armoury.
The Maoists, who have clout with the new pro-democracy leaders, don't want any more weapons coming into an army that still reports to the discredited monarch Gyanendra.
But as the arms import report turned out to be a hoax, the Maoists called off their action. The government too strenuously denied importing any arms.
Home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula told the Parliament that some of the trucks were empty, and the others were laden with supplies for troops headed on a UN peace-keeping mission in Lebanon.
Indian diplomats too denied they had supplied arms to Nepal. "No arms have been supplied to Nepal," said Indian embassy press secretary Gopal Baglay.An embassy statement said it had only given Nepal Army eight empty trucks. These are completely baseless reports, the statement added.

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