Kathmandu - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa cut short his three-day official visit to Nepal Tuesday after an attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team in Pakistan, official reports said.

The Sri Lankan president and his delegation were now scheduled to leave Kathmandu Tuesday evening, a day before his scheduled departure, the official Nepal Television said.

Rajapaksa's meetings with Nepalese politicians as well as his trip to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha in southern Nepal, have been cancelled, the station said.

Kathmandu, Mar 3 : The international media mission has urged the Nepal Government to ensure press freedom by shielding journalists and media houses from attacks.

The mission headed by President of the Asia Journalists'' Association (AJA) Sang-Ki Lee here on Monday asked the administration to bring perpetrators to justice.

Expressing concern about the worsening situation of freedom of press Nepal, they urged the government to involve journalists in the Constitution-making process and enshrine press freedom in the new constitution.

The mission said that the Governments must ensure physical and professional security for journalists and enforce the Working Journalists'' Act and the Right to Information Act in letter.

Kathmandu  - Nepal's former rebel Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has announced it will seek new recruits for its combat force, threatening to derail its three-year-old cooperation agreement with other political parties.

Issuing a statement late Monday night, the Maoist People's Liberation Army said it intended to recruit nearly 12,700 new combatants.

"The recruitment will be open to anyone who has reached the age of 18 and has a sense of sacrifice," the statement issued by Maoist commander Nanada Kishor Pun said.

Kathmandu, Mar 2: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today arrived on a three-day state visit to Nepal at the invitation of Nepali President Dr Ram Baran Yadav.

According to Nepalnews, President Rajapaksa arrived here with his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa and other high-level Sri Lankan delegates.

Dr Yadav will host banquet at his office in honor of the Sri Lankan President later today.

Kathmandu - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu at the start of a three-day official visit Monday amid tight security.

The visit is the first by a head of state to Nepal since the Maoist-led government took over following elections victory in April last year.

Rajapaksa, who is in the Himalayan nation on the invitation of Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav, is accompanied by his wife Shiranthi.

Kathmandu - At least five people were killed by wildfires in western Nepal believed to have been deliberately started by poachers, police said Monday.

Five people, including four members of the same family, were burnt alive when they were trapped by raging forest fires on Saturday in Myagdi district, about 250 kilometres west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.

The five had entered a forest near the village of Gaganpani to collect firewood when the fire engulfed them, police said.