A general strike today shut down much of Nepal as communist activists intensified their pressure on the prime minister to resign.

Thousands of Maoist supporters were on the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, to ensure that shops remained closed and buses were not operating amid fears that Nepal would descend again into civil strife. Few vehicles were about and people were forced to walk to their destinations. The international airport remained open.

The government provided foreign tourists with free shuttle buses from the airport to their hotels. Tens of thousands of Maoist supporters poured into the capital from the countryside for a rally to demandthe dissolution of a cabinet propped up by an alliance of 22 parties.

As thousands of police in riot gear watched today'sprotesters, there were scattered reports of vandalism against vehicles and shops that defied the strike. A Maoist coordinating the protests in Kathmandu said the protesters were prepared to shut down the country for days until their demands were met."We are protesting peacefully. But if the authorities try to provoke us in any ways we are ready and prepared to retaliate," said Chandra Bahadur Thapa.

Karin Landgren, chief of UN's peace mission in Nepal, said she met Maoists leaders to appeal for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. The US embassy in Kathmandu issued a statement that appealed for the parties to exercise restraint and work toward consensus. Travel advice from the Foreign Office warned that political tensions in Nepal are currently high.

In 2006, the Maoists agreed to end a decade-old insurgency that left more than 13,000 people dead and went on to lead a coalition in 2008 after a surprise win in the election for a constituent assembly.

But the coalition collapsed this time last year, when the Maoists, who have the largest party in parliament, walked out of the government after their failure to get the head of the army dismissed.The prime minister, Madhav Kumar, has refused to bow down to Maoist pressure.

"One should not resign from the government in the midst of confusion ... government changes can be made through constitutional and parliamentary procedures and not from the streets," he said.The constituent assembly is unlikely to meet its deadline target of drafting a new constitution by 28 May 28 and the deadline cannot be extended without the support of the Maoists, who hold about 40% of the assembly's 601 seats.

Analysts say consensus has steadily given way to a polarisation that has fed the more hardline elements on both sides.At the time of the fall of the Maoist-led government, the International Crisis Groupthinktank warned: "Only concerted efforts to re-establish a minimal working consensus and a national unity government including the Maoists can avert the likelihood of a more dangerous erosion of trust."Strong international backing, with India eschewing short-term interference in favour of longer-term guardianship of the process it itself initiated, will be essential."