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Kathmandu lifts curfew briefly

A Nepalese Muslim collects remains of copies of the Koran at Jame Mosque in Kathmandu yesterday. The curfew imposed after mass protests in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu was lifted temporarily ysterday morning. PHOTO: EPA

Nepal yesterday briefly lifted a curfew imposed on the capital after widespread rioting in response to the slaying of 12 Nepalese in Iraq, as the death toll from the unrest rose to two.

The curfew was lifted for three and a half hours to allow the capital's people to buy food and other essential goods before coming back into force, a home ministry official said.

It was imposed Wednesday after thousands of people rampaged through Kathmandu, setting fire to the city's main mosque and several Arab businesses and ransacking employment agencies.

Police opened fire to disperse an angry crowd that tried to storm the Egyptian embassy, which represents Iraqi interests in the Himalayan kingdom.

One person was killed there and another in police action elsewhere in Katmandu, a home ministry official said.

"Two people were killed Wednesday in different security police action ... while scores of people were injured when police charged with batons to disperse the crowd who were pelting stones at the police," the official said.

There were no incidents overnight in Kathmandu or Lalitpur, which was also placed under a 24-hour curfew, he said.

The government has declared yesterday a day of national mourning for the 12 who were murdered by Islamic militants who had held them hostage for about 10 days.

Offices and schools were closed across the country and the flag flown at half mast.

The protests erupted late Tuesday after news that the 12, who left the impoverished nation in search of jobs as cooks and cleaners, had been murdered.

A mob made up mainly of youths broke windows of more than a dozen employment agencies blamed for sending Nepalese to Iraq and set fire to their vehicles, furniture and computers.

An employee at Qatar Airways, one of the main airlines used by Nepalese seeking jobs in the Middle East, said dozens of angry people stormed into their premises and smashed furniture before setting the building on fire.

Many protesters also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, saying he should take responsibility for the failure to free the hostages.

The government had repeatedly stressed that Nepal, which is fighting a bloody Maoist rebellion, was not part of the US-led coalition in Iraq.

His government announced compensation of one million rupees (US$14,400) for the families of each of the 12 slain hostages, a handsome sum in the one of the world's poorest countries.

Hindus make up more than 86 percent of the population in Nepal, the world's only officially Hindu state. But the kingdom has experienced little of the inter-religious violence that has scarred neighboring India. Muslims account for 3.8 percent of the 27 million population.

A statement announcing the killings was posted on an Islamist website by an Al-Qaeda-linked group called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna.

It was accompanied by pictures of the grisly beheading of a blindfolded hostage, including one where his bloodied head was held up like a trophy by a hooded captor. A video showed the other Nepalese being shot.
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