FACING INCREASING OPPOSITION PRESSURE, THE NEPALESE GOVERNMENT ON SATURDAY EVENING ANNOUNCED A DAYTIME CURFEW IN MOST AREAS OF THE KATHMANDU VALLEY FOR SUNDAY, ACCORDING TO DPA. A GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT CARRIED BY STATE-RUN MEDIA SAID THE CURFEW WOULD BE IN PLACE FROM 7 A.M. (0115 GMT) TO 8 P.M. (1415 GMT) SUNDAY. THE DAYTIME CURFEW IS IN ADDITION TO THE NIGHT CURFEW FROM 11 P.M. TO 4 A.M. THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR THE PAST FOUR NIGHTS. SUNDAY'S CURFEW FOLLOWED A SIMILAR CURFEW THAT CRIPPLED NORMAL LIFE IN THE KATHMANDU VALLEY SATURDAY. THE GOVERNMENT ALSO CUT OFF ALL MOBILE TELEPHONE SERVICES FROM EARLY SATURDAY. ALLEGING THAT THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SEVEN-PARTY AGITATION HAD BEEN TAKEN OVER BY THE MAOISTS, THE GOVERNMENT IMPOSED A DAYTIME CURFEW FROM 10 A.M. TO 9 P.M. SATURDAY. INDEPENDENT REPORTS SAID THERE WERE SEVERAL CASES OF DEFIANCE OF THE CURFEW ORDER IN THE NEPALESE CAPITAL WHERE, ACCORDING TO POLITICAL PARTIES, DOZENS WERE ARRESTED BY THE POLICE. REPORTS ALSO SAID THAT THE CURFEW WAS IMPOSED IN SEVERAL OTHER URBAN AREAS ACROSS THE COUNTRY INCLUDING CHITWAN IN SOUTHERN NEPAL, NEPALGUNJ AND SURKHET IN FAR WEST NEPAL AND BUTWAL AND KAPITALBASTU IN SOUTH-WEST NEPAL. ACCORDING TO REPORTS, THE CURFEW WAS IMPOSED IN CHITWAN AFTER DEMONSTRATORS, SAID TO NUMBER THOUSANDS, SEIZED GOVERNMENT OFFICES EARLIER SATURDAY.
