The private secretariat of the Prime Minister has expressed serious concern over the Reuters news story based on an interview with PM Madhav Kumar Nepal on the integration of Maoist People's Liberation Army.

Issuing a press statement Sunday, PM's media advisor Bishnu Rijal said the British news agency circulated something the PM had never said regarding the integration of Maoist combatants. He clarified that the PM didn't say "5,000 combatants who fulfil the criteria could be absorbed in the army".

On a question whether he was ready to take in all the Maoist combatants into the army, the PM said that not all the Maoists would be absorbed in the army whereas the Maoist chairman had himself revealed that he expected 3000 to 5000 combatants to be integrated into the army, Rijal said, adding that Reuters had now put the corrected version on its website.

The clarification from the PM's media advisor came after some ministers including Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala, who leads the Nepali Congress in the government, criticised the PM over the Reuters interview published on Thursday. She said the PM should have refrained from commenting on the army integration issue without discussing it with the coalition partners. nepalnews.com June 28 09