Even as a trade union affiliated to the anti-government guerrillas has announced to call off all its protest programs, vehicular transport was badly affected in many parts of Nepal except for the capital on Thursday and Friday.

Reports coming in say that vehicular movement remained largely paralyzed in cities like Biratnagar, Birganj, Narayanghat, Butwal and many other parts of the country. Except for few vehicles with security escorts very few long-route buses were seen on major highways.

In the Kathmandu Valley, traffic remained normal. Security forces escorted a few dozen vehicles to the districts while the number of vehicles entering Kathmandu was even less, officials said Friday.
On Wednesday, the guerrillas attacked a passenger bus in the central district of Sarlahi, killing the driver and injuring a passenger.

However, All Nepal Trade Union Federation, the pro-guerrillas trade union, announced Thursday to withdraw a so-called "nationwide transport strike" on May 19-21.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2005)