How can I exclude a directory in the .htaccess file?

I have the following code in the .htaccess file.

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress

RewriteRule ^category(.*)/(.*)\.(php|js|css)$  http://www.drachsi.com/general/link-generator/$2.$3	[R,nocase,NE]
RewriteRule ^category(.*)(/images)(.*)$  http://www.drachsi.com/general/link-generator/$2$3	[R,nocase]

RewriteRule ^category/(.*/)*([^/\.]+)/([1-9][0-9]*)\.htm/?$ index.php?newid=$2&pg=$3	[nocase]
RewriteRule ^category/(.*/)*([^/\.]+)/?$ index.php?newid=$2	[nocase]
RewriteRule ^category/?.*$ http://www.drachsi.com/general/link-generator/index.php	[R,nocase]
</IfModule>

The problem is it stops the second part from functioning.

I have been told there is code which will disable the /general folder. Can anybody help?

Regards
Drachsi