February 05, 2007	Monday	Muharram 16, 1428

KATHMANDU, Feb 4: Two people died on Sunday when police opened fire on a crowd protesting for political rights in southeast Nepal in continued violence that has claimed 17 lives, police said.

Both of those killed and another five injured were from the Mahadhesi People's Rights Forum, said Birendra Shrestha, deputy superintendent of police at Malangawa, about 250 kilometers southeast of Kathmandu.

“The town remained tense throughout the day,” said Shrestha, adding that police opened fire after hundreds of protesters vandalised houses and defied curfew orders.

Other towns in the region, a low-land plain bordering India to the south, saw sporadic violence, and a day-long curfew has been imposed throughout the area, Shrestha said.

The deaths came as the group representing the Mahadhesi ethnic community demanded at the weekend that the region be turned into an autonomous state to end the unrest.

Nepal's prime minister has appealed for calm and pledged to tackle Mahadhesi issues.

The violence has cast a cloud over the new government which has pledged to hold elections this year to rewrite the constitution and decide the future of the monarchy.—AFP