Hundreds more Nepali protesters detained

"Some 200 protesters from the Nepali Congress Party and more than 150 from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) have been arrested and 12 injured during protests," said Nepali Congress Party secretary Shovarkar Parajuli.

He vowed the protests, which have seen several hundred people arrested over the past two days, would go on.

At Tribhuvan University on the outskirts of Kathmandu, around 300 students engaged in running battles with riot police during the afternoon.

The students hurled stones and chanted slogans against Gyanendra. Police responded by firing dozens of tear-gas canisters and baton-charging the protesters.

Police arrest numbers were lower than those given by the Nepali Congress activist.

"Only about 100 people have been detained from various protests, but the numbers could rise as the protest is still going on," said a police officer on condition of anonymity.

"Around a dozen vehicles including two police vans were vandalised and about 12 policemen have been injured in clashes with protesters," the police officer said.

The streets of the capital were deserted again Friday apart from the heavy security presence and sporadic protests usually by small numbers of people.

Defying a ban on public meetings, opposition parties have called a four-day general strike against the royal power grab and have paralysed the Himalayan kingdom.

The king's government has locked up dozens of political leaders and arrested hundreds of people this week for breaking the ban.

"This is the final push of the movement. The days of the king are numbered," said Sova Sapkota, an activist with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) as she prepared to take part in a protest in the capital.