Before setting fire to the Jama Masjid mosque, the capital's largest Muslim shrine, protesters created a sidewalk bonfire out of furniture and electrical equipment pulled from the building.

Riot police used batons to control the angry protesters and managed to push them back outside the sensitive central area that contains the Narayanhity Royal Palace, police said.

The violence erupted in the capital late Aug. 31, after news the 12, who left the impoverished nation in search of jobs, were slain by militants who abducted them about two weeks ago, accusing them of cooperating with U.S. forces.

A statement announcing the killings was posted on an Islamist Web site by an al-Qaeda-linked group called the Army of Ansar al-Sunna and accompanied by pictures and video footage of the killings. It was the largest single massacre of hostages in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-led war there.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 11, 2004
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