'P.M. must go' strike shuts down Nepal

Leader of Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and other strike organizers speak to the press

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- A three-day general strike called by six communist groups to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasada Koirala has begun, paralyzing the country.

The groups are demanding Koirala's resignation over alleged irregularities in a deal by the state's Royal Nepal Airlines Corp to lease a Boeing 767 aircraft from Austria's Lauda Air.

Employees walked to work as public transport and taxis went off the streets for fear of being stoned by activists enforcing the strike.

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Police said there were no immediate reports of violence.

Business groups said the shutdown would cripple the economy and hurt tourism, a mainstay of the nation's economy.

"The prime minister must resign because of his role in finalizing the Lauda Air deal," Pradeep Nepal, a member of the Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party, the biggest of the six groups.

No connection

There is no connection between communist guerrillas who are waging a low level insurgency in Nepal's countryside and the organizers of the strike.

An independent Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority last week charged a former civil aviation minister, seven officials of the state airline and two foreigners with corruption related to the deal signed late last year.

The anti-corruption panel also sought the recovery of $5.21 million (389.7 million Nepali rupees), which it said was the amount lost by the airline because of the controversial deal.

The panel did not name Koirala but warned him against protecting corrupt officials in future.

A cabinet meeting chaired by Koirala had approved the foreign exchange required for the controversial deal, which was signed despite warnings by a parliamentary panel that the agreement violated existing laws.

UML's Nepal said Koirala must own moral responsibility and resign because it was his cabinet which had approved the payment for the illegal deal.

Koirala has vowed to step down only if formally charged by the anti-corruption panel.

The opposition parties paralyzed parliament for nearly two months over the row and are now demanding the ouster of Koirala, who came came to power last year on an anti-corruption ticket.

Reuters contributed to this report.