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Nepal frees 8 leaders amid pressure

Koirala, Deuba still under house arrest

AFP, Kathmandu
Nepal, facing growing world pressure to free political detainees, freed yesterday eight party leaders and activists arrested after King Gyanendra's power takeover, a party official said. Among those released were former state foreign affairs minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, who was a member of the four-party coalition government dismissed by Gyanendra February 1.
"Eight political leaders and activists were released on Wednesday," Bhanubhakta Dhakal, an official of the Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist, told AFP:
Others freed included student leaders and former lawmakers.
But two former prime ministers Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal's first elected prime minister, and Sher Bahadur Deuba, who was fired by the king when he seized power, remained under house arrest.
King Gyanendra seized control of Nepal on February 1, firing the government, imposing emergency rule and vowing to tackle an increasingly bloody Maoist revolt that has claimed 11,000 lives since 1996.
He has given himself three years to restore peace and democracy.
Rights groups say over 400 activists are in detention or under house arrest.
But Nepal's royal-appointed foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey said in New Delhi that "very few people are in detention."
Word of the release of the eight came after the World Bank said late Wednesday it was freezing release of more aid to Nepal, while it assessed events on the ground including protection of human rights.
Nepal relies on international donor aid and loans for more than half its development budget to prop up an economy devastated by the Maoist insurgency.
India Wednesday called the situation in Nepal disturbing" and said it was in touch with other nations to develop a coordinated response to King Gyanendra's power seizure in the Himalayan nation.
"India is concerned a further deterioration of the situation in Nepal will result in spillover effects across the open border particularly in neighbouring (Indian) states," junior External Affairs Minister E. Ahamed told parliament.
Ahamed's statements reported by the Press Trust of India followed a three-day visit by Nepal's foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey to New Delhi that wound up Wednesday.
During Pandey's trip, Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh urged King Gyanendra to mend fences with Nepal's political parties to stem a rapidly "deteriorating" economic and security situation in the kingdom.
The visit was the first by Nepal's foreign minister to India since the king sacked the government and imposed emergency rule February 1, saying he was acting to tackle a nine-year Maoist revolt that has claimed over 11,000 lives.
India, which shares a nearly 1,600-kilometer (990-mile) border with Nepal, is anxious for an end to the political crisis.
It is concerned that Maoist violence could spill into Indian states where radical leftist groups are powerful.
Ahamed said Indian security forces in border areas had been asked to step up vigilance and patrols along the border.