Muslims in Kathmandu planned to hold Friday prayers at home as the city was hit by an indefinite curfew after mobs, protesting the killings of 12 Nepalese in Iraq, ransacked the main mosque. Authorities said the curfew imposed on Wednesday would continue to ensure there was no fresh violence in the Hindu kingdom.‘‘We will hold our prayers in small groups in our homes,’’ Arif Sheakh, a mosque management committee member said. ‘‘This is the first time I have seen such protests. I hope we can hold our prayers in the mosque soon,’’ he said.Protesters, shouting anti-Muslim and anti-government slogans, rampaged through the mosque, recruitment firm offices and Muslim businesses on Wednesday, prompting the government to impose curfew. Two people died in the riots.Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka said the government would repair the mosque to try to win the confidence of Muslims, who make up 3.5 per cent of Nepal’s population. ‘‘The situation is gradually coming under control and there was no trouble. The curfew will continue on Friday,’’ Kathmandu district administrator Baman Prasad Neupane said, adding it would be relaxed briefly to allow residents to stock up supplies.Soldiers carrying automatic weapons guarded road crossings in the capital, where a blockade by Maoist rebels fighting against the monarchy ended last week. Nepal was shut down yesterday to mourn the 12 men who went to Iraq to work as cooks and cleaners for a Jordanian firm but were kidnapped last month.‘‘Nepali Muslims also wept with the rest of the country over the tragic killings in Iraq,’’ said Mohammed Nizamuddin, a former head of a Muslim religious body in Kathmandu.
