Dawn-to-dusk curfew turns Kathmandu into ghost city

It was the latest desperate measure by King Gyanendra to stifle the growing protests against his autocratic rule. The curfew was ordered to prevent a mass demonstration against the King that was supposed to take place yesterday. Only last week, more than 100,000 people marched against the King in a provincial town in the south-east.

Far more were expected yesterday, but the crackdown was crushingly effective. A city of more than 700,000 people, and a major tourist destination, was brought to a complete standstill. In the huge central square where the rally was to take place, only police sat on the steps of temple buildings. Kathmandu's sights were empty.

The civil war that has crippled Nepal has just reignited. On 2 January the Maoist rebels who control huge areas of the country announced that a unilateral ceasefire they declared last year was over.

In the hours running up to the curfew, a wave of arrests took place across the capital. On Thursday, more than 100 political party activists and students were rounded up. In the pre-dawn hours yesterday, armed police surrounded the houses of five party leaders and told them they were under house arrest.

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