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Defense Minister says 'new national army' after army integration; NC veep begs to differ

Minister of Defense Ram Bahadur Thapa has said that a new ‘national army’ would be formed after army integration.

Speaking at a programme organized in the capital on Thursday, Defense Minister Thapa said integration of two armies - Maoist People's Liberation Army and Nepal Army - was crucial to the peace process.

"Army integration is an important aspect of the peace process," Minister Thapa said. "A new national army would be formed after army integration and it would be done on the basis of a new national security policy."

Thapa didn't elaborate on the ‘new national security policy’, but said that the Constituent Assembly would have a final word on army integration and formation of a new national security policy.

The government has formed a ministerial level committee under Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Janardhan Sharma to come up with a plan for army integration.

Meanwhile, speaking to journalists at Pokhara airport the same day, Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the government would soon form a special task force to speed up the army integration process.

However, Vice President of Nepali Congress (NC) Ram Chandra Poudel said that the Maoists combatants should be rehabilitated instead of integrating them in the Nepal Army, and accused the Maoist leadership of using only the world 'integration' even though the Peace Accord clearly states that the combatants would be either integrated or rehabilitated.

Speaking at a function organized by the Mahendra Narayan Nidhi Memorial Foundation to mark the 139th Gandhi Day and 2nd International Non-Violence Day in the capital Thursday, Poudel objected to Maoist plans to integrate all their combatants in the national army, instead proposing that they should be integrated into Maoist party structures.

"The Maoists have also failed to honour past agreements and are misusing the state treasury for partisan interests," he added. nepalnews.com Oct 03 08