8216;Army integration,Constitution-writing should go hand in hand8217;

Maoist chief Prachanda said they wanted the process to go hand in hand with drafting of a new Constitution,modalities for which were yet to be prepared.

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Taking exception to Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal8217;s charge that his party was deliberately delaying army integration of its combatants,Maoist chief Prachanda on Friday said they wanted the process to go hand in hand with drafting of a new Constitution,modalities for which were yet to be prepared.

Prachanda,the Chairman of the main opposition Unified CPN Maoist,said his party was not against integrating over 19,000 of its combatants with army.

8220;It is necessary to debate on whether to complete army integration or Constitution-writing first,8221; he said,adding Maoists wanted both the processes to be carried out together.

However,it would be appropriate to move ahead with the army integration process after the preparation of modalities for the new Constitution,Prachanda told reporters in Inaruwa in southern Nepal.

His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Nepal alleged that Maoists did not want to conclude the peace process and were deliberately delaying the process of integration of their People8217;s Liberation Army.

Prachanda also objected to Nepal8217;s remarks that the Maoists were using their army as 8220;a begging pot8221;.

The Prime Minister had claimed that Maoists wanted to prolong the army integration process in order to get more money in allowances from the government as well as the international community for their combatants,who were staying in seven cantonments under the United Nations8217; supervision.

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An Army Integration Special Committee has been formed to integrate and rehabilitate the combatants.

Referring to recent discharge of the disqualified Maoist combatants and other peace process-related issues,Prachanda claimed that his party was following the peace agreement.

The Maoist chairman also said that the new Constitution could be promulgated within the stipulated timeframe May 28,2010 8211;if there is consensus among members of the High Level Political Mechanism HLPM,which has been formed to oversee the peace process.