(1 Nov 2009)
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal gathered at anti-president and government protest
2. Various shots of kerosene torch being lit at start of protest
3. Various shots of protesters marching with torches and chanting slogans against the president and government
4. Low angle shot of protesters lighting torches from fire on ground
5. Various more of protest
6. Wide of riot police monitoring protest ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
Thousands of Nepal's former communist rebels demonstrated in Katmandu on Sunday, resuming protests against the Himalayan nation's president and government.
About 10-thousand supporters of the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal marched with lit torches and chanted anti-government slogans.
Sunday's demonstration is one of several that have been held over many months, the result of a political dispute that led the Maoist leader to resign as prime minister of the Himalayan nation and pull out of the ruling coalition.
The protests were put on hold for a festival season that started in September.
The protests threaten to deepen the political crisis in Nepal, which many hoped would ease when the rebels gave up their armed revolt in 2006, joined a peace process and eventually entered politics.
The Maoists emerged from elections last year as the country's largest political party and were able to form a coalition government with former guerrilla leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal as prime minister.
But things turned sour when Dahal's attempt to fire the army chief was overruled by President Ram Baran Yadav - a member of the rival Nepali Congress party.
The Maoists accused the army chief of opposing the integration of thousands of former rebel fighters into the national army - a key component of the peace deal under which the Maoists laid down their arms three years ago.
The fighters are still in UN-monitored camps.
Dahal resigned to protest the president's decision and the Maoists withdrew from the government. A new coalition government took over in May, and the Maoists began their protests.
Maoist deputy leader Baburam Bhattarai said the largest protest was planned for November 10, when they plan a blockade of Katmandu, shutting the country's only international airport and blocking all the highways to the capital.
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