KATHMANDU: The meeting of Special Committee for the Supervision, Integration and Rehabilitation of Maoist Combatants today decided to extend the term of its technical committee till May 14. The term of the technical committee under the special committee had expired on February 27.

Emerging from the meeting, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said the Unified CPN-Maoist member Janardan Sharma proposed to finalise the number of combatants to be integrated in the security forces following the meeting of the High Level Political Mechanism. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, however, proposed that the number of Maoist combatants to be integrated should be decided as per the agreement of Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' and NC president Girija Prasad Koirala in the past.

Mahat, further, said the meeting decided to send members of special committee to examine the physical presence of the combatants and also the conditions of the camps. The government has been claiming that Maoists have been receiving the perks of the absentees .

The special committee has already agreed to bring the combatants directly under its control but it is yet to be implemented. "The next meeting will decide on the issue, Mahat said, adding that chairman Prachanda imparting political training to the combatants today was against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The government has already spent around Rs 5.5 billion on the Maoist combatants, he added.

Meanwhile, special committee member Janardan Sharma 'Pravakar' said he opposed the unilateral import of arms from India recently without consulting other political parties. The government should have imported arms after consulting and informing other parties as the country is in transition, he added. He, however, denied that no such decision to bring the combatants under the direct control of the special committee was made yet.