300 pro-democracy activists held in Nepal

Thursday marked the start of a four-day nationwide general strike, called by opposition parties against Nepal King Gyanendra.

Over 300 protesters were rounded up by police in Nepal as they demonstrated on Thursday on the first day of a general strike, a protest leader said.

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"Some 250 protesters were rounded up on Thursday morning by police in the Kathmandu valley, and 50 more were arrested in Hetaunda," a town 150 kilometres south of the capital, said Rajendra Pandey, a leader from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist).

Police in the capital said that 80 people had been arrested on Thursday by lunchtime.

Thursday marked the start of a four-day nationwide general strike, called by opposition parties that were ousted when King Gyanendra took direct control of the country 14 months ago.