Amnesty team to study rights situation in Nepal: [World News]: Kathmandu, Feb 11 : Concerned over reports of detention of political leaders, rights activists and journalists in Nepal following the Feb 1 royal takeover, Amnesty International (AI) is sending a high-level team to Kathmandu to assess the rights situation. The team, headed by AI secretary-general Irene Khan, is arriving here Friday for a six-day visit, AI said. It would hold a press conference at the end of its mission to announce its findings. "Following the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency, political leaders have been arrested and communications severely disrupted. Khan's visit will assess the human rights situation in the country first hand," AI said. Nepal's King Gyanendra sacked the Sher Bahadur Deuba government and imposed a state of emergency in the kingdom Feb 1. The international rights body has already started a campaign in the US targeted at petitioning US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and local Congressional representatives to demand accountability from the government of Nepal on improving human rights. AI is asking concerned Americans to ensure that the US sponsors a resolution on Nepal at the upcoming session of the UN Commission on Human Rights. "Both sides to the conflict, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Government of Nepal, have committed grave abuses," AI said. It is also urging the public to ask Nepalese officials to reveal the whereabouts of a Nepalese rights activist, Krishna Pahadi. Pahadi, founding chairman of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), was arrested at the organisation's office in Kathmandu Feb 9. He is also former president of Amnesty International's Nepal section. "His whereabouts are unknown and there are serious concerns for his safety," AI said. http://news.newkerala.com/world-news/?action=fullnews&id=70796