Police hold 500 Nepal protesters

By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Kathmandu

Protesters and policemen were hurt in the rally

Police in Nepal have arrested more than 500 demonstrators, including several senior opposition leaders, in the country's capital, Kathmandu.

The general secretary of one of the country's largest parties, the United Marxist Leninist (UML), Madhav Kumar Nepal, was among those arrested.

Several dozen people were injured in clashes with riot police.

The demonstrators have been holding protests against King Gyanendra over his seizure of power in February.

Baton charge

Riot police baton-charged the rally as demonstrators tried to defy restrictions on protests in certain parts of the city.

Some people sustained head injuries while a number of policemen were hurt when the crowd hurled bricks.

Opposition parties want the king to end his executive powers

This was the 10th successive day in which supporters and activists of opposition parties have tried to bring protests into areas the authorities have declared out of bounds.

In recent months, there have been moves towards a united approach to counter the king.

A seven-party opposition alliance has been engaged in agitation over what it says was the unconstitutional and undemocratic royal move in February.

The parties insist that the king should give up all executive powers to end the political crisis.

The king said the move was needed to tackle the country's nine-year Maoist insurgency.

In an interview with the Times of India newspaper, the Maoist leader, known as Prachanda, called for UN involvement in settling the dispute so that, "the rebels' possession of weapons does not become a stumbling block to peace".

He said dialogue with the king would only be possible if the monarch agreed to return power to the people - an apparent reference to the rebels' longstanding demand for an elected assembly to formulate a new constitution.

About 12,000 people have died in 10 years of Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The rebels want to replace the monarchy with a people's republic.