Updated on Sunday, November 30, 2008, 00:00 IST

Kathmandu, Nov 30: Rebuffing the Maoists' demand of merging their People's Liberation Army with the national Army, opposition Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala has asked the Prachanda-led government not to "drag the Army into politics".

Addressing a public meeting in the tourist hub of Pokhara in western Nepal yesterday, Koirala said, "The PLA can be integrated into other security bodies, instead of being merged into the Nepal Army."

"We are not against the rehabilitation of the Maoists combatants but it should not be done in a way that drags the Army into politics," Koirala said.

The former Prime Minister also asked the Maoists to dissolve their para-military youth wing of the Young Communist League, which was allegedly hindering the Constitution drafting process by spreading violence across the nation.

He also alleged the former rebels of breaching all past agreements they signed with the previous government.

"The Maoists will fall into its own trap and the Nepali Congress will have to rescue them," the octogenarian leader said.

Bureau Report