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KATHMANDU, April 9 (AFP): Police in Nepal's capital Kathmandu began arresting pro-democracy protestors as they gathered for a banned rally near King Gyanendra's palace, which they had vowed to storm.
At least 100 protestors were arrested as they arrived at Ratna park, just 500 metres (yards) from Narayanhiti Palace, where 15 truckloads of troops had been deployed earlier.
Police set up roadblocks elsewhere in the city and were preventing all vehicles from moving towards the palace, witnesses said.
Chief protest organiser, Krishna Gopal, said the rally would go ahead despite the arrests.
"We will break down the barricades (surrounding the palace) no matter what," he told AFP.
The royalist government Thursday banned protests indefinitely in the capital, warning that rallies would be infiltrated by Maoist rebels who are seen as a more formidable threat than the opposition parties.
Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in central Kathmandu since Thursday last week, chanting slogans against King Gyanendra demanding he restore an elected government.
Political leaders who are driving the demonstrations are furious that the king effectively ended democratic rule by dismissing the elected premier as "incompetent" in 2002 and delaying elections.
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