Restore democracy or face chaos

Women activists of Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-D) party carry empty clay vessels as they take part in a protest demonstration in Kathmandu yesterday against the Royal Commission for Corruption Control's (RCCC) decision to jail former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and ex-minister Prakash Man Singh on corruption charges. PHOTO: AFP

The comments came as the bodies of 40 soldiers killed in fighting with Maoist rebels in the remote western district of Kalikot were recovered.

Nepal's army searched in driving monsoon rains yesterday for 75 soldiers missing after a major attack by Maoist rebels as the UN urged the guerrillas to treat any captives humanely, the military and a report said yesterday.

The army said the poor weather conditions were hampering the search for the missing soldiers and fugitive rebels whose attack on a camp near the northwestern town of Kalikot claimed at least 66 lives.

"The visibility is very bad -- just 30 meters (yards)," an army official told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said the rebels were making use of the conditions to escape.

Another missing soldier had been traced by Wednesday, the official said, leaving 75 still unaccounted for after Sunday night's attack by hundreds of rebels on the army camp in a remote jungle area.

The army on Tuesday accused the rebels of lining up 40 soldiers and shooting them in the head and of mutilating some of their bodies. The rebels said 26 of their fighters died and that they had captured another 50 soldiers.

A BBC correspondent in Nepal says the fighting seems to be the bloodiest since King Gyanendra seized power more than six months ago.

Unverified claims by both sides suggest the number of people killed in the clash may be much higher.

The US ambassador to Nepal, James Moriarty, accused King Gyanendra of reneging on reforms he had promised to introduce after he dismissed the government and assumed absolute control in February.

"Unless the principles of freedom, civil rights and democracy once again take root through a process of true reconciliation among the legitimate political forces, I fear Nepal will inexorably slide towards confrontation, confusion and chaos," he said.

He was also critical of the Maoist rebels, accusing them of having a "plan to turn Nepal into a brutal and anachronistic state".

The rebels say they are holding more than 50 of them captive, although this cannot be independently verified.

But a senior official from the UN high commissioner for human rights, Ian Martin, has urged the rebels to treat captured soldiers humanely and respect international human rights laws.

A Nepal army spokesman told the BBC at least 10 soldiers had been killed by rebels after the clashes ended.

Army spokesman Brig Gen Dipak Gurung accused the insurgents of violating international humanitarian law by killing soldiers after capturing them.

There are also allegations that their bodies had been mutilated.

The army camp was set up recently to provide security for the construction of the Karnali highway.