January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

KATHMANDU, Jan 14: A bomb exploded on Monday near a mass political rally where thousands of supporters of Nepal’s main political parties had gathered to mark the start of campaigning for elections, police said.

No one was killed, but five people were wounded in the blast, police official Uma Chaturbedi said. Police were interviewing witnesses who saw someone toss the bomb out of a car and into the crowd as it was breaking up.

No one has claimed responsibility.

To mark the start of the election campaign, 50,000 people supporters of the seven political parties in the ruling coalition, including former communist rebels widely known as Maoists marched through Kathmandu and gathered at the rally grounds in the heart of city.

The bomb exploded just 50 meters away from the crowd, which included top leaders of the main political parties in Nepal.

The injured were taken to nearby Bir Hospital where they were being treated for the wounds.

“I first thought someone threw a stone at the bus. The bomb hit the window and broke the window,” said Torang Gurung from his hospital bed.

Dipesh Nepal, a 15-year-old witness, said the attack came after the rally. He was conscious but was having difficulty keeping his eyes open and talking.

The government announced last week that polls to elect a Constituent Assembly to map the country’s political future would be held on April 10. The election is a key part of Nepal’s peace process, which saw the rebels give up a decade-long armed revolt.

The assembly will rewrite Nepal’s constitution and decide on a new political system for the Himalayan nation.

The elections were a key stage agreed to in the 2006 peace process to end the Maoists’ decade-long communist insurgency that left more than 13,000 people dead.—AP