Nepal on high alert as Maoists plan march

Kathmandu: Nepal's security forces were put on high alert today as thousands of Maoist supporters descended onto the capital to force the embattled Prime Minister to quit, sparking fears of clashes and chaos.

On the eve of a massive anti-government agitation by the Maoists, a key meeting between the leaders of Nepal's ruling coalition and the former rebels failed to break the political deadlock.

Baburam Bhattarai, the vice-chairman of the main Opposition United CPN-Maoist, announced that his party will gather five lakh supporters in the capital tomorrow to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.

"The Prime Minister must resign by May 1 to pave the way for forming a Maoists-led national coalition government, or we will launch indefinite general strike from May 2," he told a press conference on the eve of the rally.

Prime Minister Nepal underlined his determination not to quit "under pressure from the Maoists". "If I quit under the pressure from the Maoists' agitation it would weaken democracy and rule of law," he said.

Soon after arriving from Bhutan today, Nepal called a meeting of the 22-party ruling coalition to discuss the threat posed by the Maoists' to the stability of the government.

Even as Bhattarai said that the May Day rally and the indefinite strike from May 2 will be peacefully, he warned the government not to use force to provoke their movement.

He said protection of national independence and abrogation of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty will be the major slogans of the party, besides formation of a national coalition government.

With regard to the talks held between Maoist chairman Prachanda and Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood yesterday, Bhattarai said the envoy underlined the need to forge a consensus and agreement to frame the constitution and conclude the peace process.

Replying to a question regarding the reported support extended to the Nepal government by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a meeting in Thimphu, Bhattarai said: "We Nepalese are capable of deciding our future by ourselves and we don t want interference in our affairs by neighbours."

Meanwhile, Nepal's National Security Council (NSC) today decided to put the security agencies on high alert amid fears of violence during the Maoist agitation.

Nepal's Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari said the NSC has not decided to mobilise Nepal Army (NA). "But the Army could be deployed if the Maoist protest turns violent," she was quoted as saying.