Maoists call strike to protest 'Saddam's' death Indo-Asian News Service Kathmandu, Jan 9 (IANS) Nepal's Maoist guerrillas have called an indefinite transport shutdown in three southern districts from Sunday to protest against the alleged killing of "Saddam Hussein". Media reports said life was disrupted in Bara, Parsa and Rautahat, three districts near the Indian border, with the communist rebels announcing a shutdown to protest against the killing of a leader of their self-styled "People's Militia", known only by his nom de guerre Saddam Hussain. Five passenger buses defying the closure call and heading towards Kathmandu were stopped by the rebels who abducted nearly 200 passengers, media reports said. The whereabouts of the abducted is not yet known. Fresh violence was also reported from midwest Nepal, with at least three Maoists being killed. Media reports said around 8 a.m., security forces clashed with the guerrillas in Dailekh district, a troubled spot for over a month, resulting in the death of three insurgents. The outlawed guerrillas Sunday confirmed they had suffered another loss with security forces arresting Saturday their "valley coordinator", a man only known as Aditya. Aditya's arrest is a setback for the underground organisation that saw its earlier valley coordinator "Prashanta" arrested just about a month ago. Subsequently, Prashanta reportedly committed suicide in detention, hanging himself by his shoelaces. Indo-Asian News Service For clarifications/queries, please contact IANS NEWS DESK at 2616-5778/8546, 2617-3369