Rights group halts violent Nepal strikes

By Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal --A group that has been organizing violent protests in southern Nepal said Thursday it was temporarily suspending demonstrations and would begin talks with the government.
Upendra Yadav, chief of the Tarai People's Rights Forum, said that before talks can begin, it wants the home minister's resignation and a commission to investigate the killing of about 20 protesters since Jan. 19 before the talks begin.
"Beginning from today, we are going to suspend the general strikes, blockades of the roads and highways, for 10 days," Yadav told reporters in the capital, Katmandu.
He warned, however, that if the government fails to create a "conducive environment" to resolve the problem, they would resume their protests.
The group's statement follows the announcement by the government that it has accepted the protesters' key demands and said it would allocate more seats in parliament and positions in its administration to representatives of the southern region.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala announced late Wednesday that the constitution would be immediately amended to accommodate the changes.
Yadav's and other smaller groups in the southern Nepal have been demanding more autonomy and greater representation. They say the south has been sidelined in favor of the more populated mountainous areas in the country's north.
"We take the prime minister's announcement as a first positive step, but it is still not complete. It is unfortunate that the government has been silent on the issue of regional autonomy," Yadav said.
Small but peaceful demonstrations were held in some areas of the south and southeast but most of the region remained calm following Koirala's announcement, said Home Ministry Secretary Umesh Mainali.
Mainali said protesters blocked highways and other routes, but there were no reports of violence.
In the industrial city of Biratnagar, 250 miles southeast of Katmandu, a curfew was imposed again Thursday as a precaution after protesters began to gather in the morning, police official Gopal Bhandari said.
On Wednesday, two protesters were shot and killed by police in Biratnagar, Nepal's second-largest city. Police said they were forced to open fire in self-defense when thousands of demonstrators began marching toward a police post and jail armed with spears and other weapons.