KATHMANDU, April 13: Police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of lawyers protesting King Gyanendra’s absolute rule on Thursday as Nepalese awaited a message to the nation by the monarch to see if he would reach out to opponents.

In a sign of an easing of a crackdown by authorities, the government ended a night curfew it imposed last week as part of a bid to thwart protests against King Gyanendra’s rule and restored mobile telephone services.

“The night curfew which has been in effect in the Kathmandu valley since April 5 has been lifted until further notice,” a newsreader on state-run Nepal Television said.

The announcement came a day after the government ended a daytime curfew clamped on Kathmandu last Saturday.

Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested and four killed by security forces in the most intense wave of pro-democracy protests since the king seized absolute power 14 months ago.

Residents were waiting for the king’s traditional message on Friday to mark the Nepalese New Year to see if he would use the occasion to try to pacify opponents of his takeover.

The palace gave no details about the contents of the king’s message. But in line with previous years, it is likely to be printed in state-run newspapers and read out on radio by a newscaster.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the protest by hundreds of lawyers urging a return to democracy outside the Supreme Court, and arrested 70 of them.

“We were protesting peacefully when police baton-charged us and fired tear gas and rubber bullets,” lawyer Laxman Bashyal told AFP. Three were hurt by the rubber bullets while another 20 received other injuries. In another protest, 10 teachers were arrested at a Kathmandu college, a lecturer said.

In the Kathmandu suburb Gongabu, at least 3,000 protesters chanted, “Death to the monarch and long live the democratic republic,” and “We will burn the palace and run the country.”

But unlike Tuesday when scores were injured in the same spot as police battled with demonstrators, security forces did not intervene.

The rally went ahead after a minute’s silence for the four people killed since opposition parties backed by Maoist rebels launched an indefinite nationwide general strike and a wave of protests last Thursday.—AFP