The unrest in neighbouring Tibet is having a direct impact on Nepal. Tourism and mountaineering have been affected, and riot police have been busy breaking up demonstrations by Tibetans in Kathmandu.

In scenes not witnessed since April 2006, police brutally put down rallies and candlelit vigils by monks in Kathmandu. This young monk (above) was hit on his head with a bamboo stick wielded by riot police outside the United Nations office in Pulchok on Monday.

The UN's human rights office in Kathmandu condemned what it said was the "excessive use of force" by Nepal's police to disperse the demonstrations.

The protests have been part of an international campaign by Tibetans in exile and their supporters to highlight Chinese crackdowns in Lhasa and elsewhere. The rallies came in the run-up to the Olympics in Beijing in August. The unrest in Tibet has already hurt Nepal's tourism industry since Kathmandu is the jump off point for Lhasa. Hundreds of Sherpas are also employed by expeditions climbing the Himalaya from the north.

Nepal's tourism spokesman denied on Tuesday that China had pressured Nepal to ban expeditions from the south side of Chomolungma, but industry sources said many expeditions had already cancelled. Tibet is now closed to tourists, and many who had already arrived in Kathmandu were rebooked to destinations within Nepal, or to Bhutan and India.

Tourists landing here on flights from Lhasa this week said they saw mobs attacking Chinese on the streets and setting fire to Chinese-owned shops.