Dr. Bhattarai to hold Finance, Badal to take over Defense portfolios

A senior Maoist leader has said that his party has identified two leaders to take over Finance and Defense portfolios in the new cabinet.

Even though the three of the ruling alliance partners failed to finalise the cabinet portfolio division, Monday, Maoist leader Dev Gurung has said that in the ministries which the Maoists are most likely to keep with themselves, they have identified leaders to head them.

"Possibly, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai will become the Finance Minister and Ram Bahadur Thapa 'Badal' will become the Defense Minister," Dev Gurung told reporters after the meeting of Maoist central committee.

Gurung also confirmed that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' is likely to travel to China on Saturday to attend the closing ceremony of Beijing Olympics.

"Barring technical difficulties, he is likely to travel to Beijing," Gurung said. The government has not yet officially informed of his travel plan. nepalnews.com sd Aug 18 08