Nepalese Buddhist monks and nuns take out a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. Hundreds of Buddhists demonstrated in Nepal's capital to protest the appointment of Maoist party chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal to head a project to develop the area where Buddha was believed born in southern Nepal. The protestors demanded that there should not be any political involvement in the project to develop Lumbini, located 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Kathmandu. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Hundreds of Buddhists demonstrated in Nepal's capital to protest the appointment of Maoist party chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal to head a project to develop the area where Buddha was believed born in southern Nepal.
The 500 demonstrators included monks and nuns holding banners saying there should not be any political involvement in the project to develop Lumbini, located 150 miles (240 kilometers) southwest of Kathmandu.
The government recently appointed Dahal as the head of national committee for the development of Lumbini. Maoist fought government troops until 2006 when they entered a peace process. The fighting left more than 13,000 people dead.
(AP)
