Rebels kill journalist by publicly cutting throat

Reporters Without Borders expressed shock today at the gruesome murder by Nepalese Maoist rebels of a journalist who they tied to a post and publicly cut his throat. The victim, a thirty five years old man, Gyanendra Khadka, who worked for the government news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) and was also a teacher in Jyamire, Sindhupalchok (northeast of Kathmandu), was dragged from a village school in the middle of a class by the rebels on 7 September. He was well-known for his articles in many national and local papers. The press freedom organisation said it was very concerned about the violence from all sides that has targeted journalists since the Maoist CNP-M party ended a ceasefire on 27 August. They are either suspected of favouring the rebels or being police informants. It called on political and military leaders and the Maoist rebels to stop physically attacking journalists and appealed to Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Baburam Bhattarai to find and punish those who killed Khadka, who for several years was the correspondent of Samacharpatra, one of the country's biggest newspapers, in the Melamchi valley.