Tears and anger in Nepal papers

Nepal was shocked by the killings

The press in Nepal has been outraged by the murder of 12 Nepalese workers in Iraq.

"Inhumane, cowardly and barbaric" is how one angry paper describes the killings.

As protesters in Kathmandu ransack the city's mosque, press editorials also question whether the Nepalese government did enough to secure the release of the hostages.

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Sheer barbarism - We strongly condemn the inhumane, cowardly and barbaric act of the Iraqi militants. It is now crystal clear that the Iraqi militants, who are waging war in the name of Islam, do not follow Islamic tenets. They are simply terrorists who have camouflaged themselves in the mask of Islam. Every country knows that Nepalese have no role in the Iraq conflict. But the bloodthirsty terrorists did not listen to the pleas of the poor.

English-language Kathmandu Post

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How long can we afford to be helpless? - Nepalese have never before been so helpless. We have never before been so terrified and unhappy.

Nepali-language Rajdhani

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Barbaric act of terrorists against Nepalis - Accusations made by the Islamic fundamentalists against the Nepalese hostages of cooperating with the US and the Jews are mere inventions. The killing of innocent Nepalis makes it clear that the kidnappers are extremely irrational and despicable. Nepal has never acted against the Iraqi people, nor have the Nepalese men who went there through ordinary employment brokers and were not engaged in any anti-Iraqi activities. The terrorists are fanatics and irrational. No Nepali is involved in the war between America and Iraq.

Nepali-language Kantipur

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Every Nepali is crying - The nation is engulfed in sorrow by the ruthless murder of the 12 Nepalis... Condemnation of such dastardly, inhumane and terrorist misadventure is never enough. Those behind the deplorable incident, who broke the hearts of all Nepalis, and those who did nothing to avert the tragedy share the blame. The innocent 12 Nepalis had to meet their barbaric death due to the failure of the Nepalese government to perceive the seriousness of the matter and to take appropriate moves for their unharmed release, despite the fact that the national and international media had brought to light the agonies and pleas of the captives. The Nepalese are not in a position to forgive those responsible people in the government because of the horrible weakness and inaction the government has shown.

English-language Spacetime

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Moral question raised by fate - How the government responds is a wait-and-see matter now. The worst has already happened. Now the government should take the initiative to give compensation to the families of the Nepalis killed in Iraq and take the sternest action against the responsible employment agencies, brokers, officials and political power centres giving protection to them, so that other middlemen cannot dupe the simple-minded, jobless Nepalese youths in the future.

Nepali-language Nepal Samachar Patra

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BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.