The first day of a week-long Maoist rebel road blockade in Nepal left highways across the nation deserted, piling fresh pressure on Nepal's King Gyanendra who seized power 13 months ago.
Security forces were on high alert and troops offered protection to vehicles defying the blockade. "There have not been any reports of violence so far," said an official from army headquarters on condition of anonymity. Vehicles have been torched and booby traps set on roads during previous rebel blockades.
In central Nepal, the Mahendra highway, the main east-west route, was deserted all day, said local journalist Prabhakar Ghimire from Chitwan, a town 220 kilometres (137 miles) south-west of the capital.
Meanwhile, leaders of Nepal's Maoists and of an opposition party alliance were meeting in the Indian capital to work out a strategy to end Gyanendra's power grab, Indian and Nepalese media reports said.