The move comes after the World Bank suspended its demobilisation program in 2003 after contract discrepancies were uncovered. It had been aimed at reducing the military's payroll by 30,000 soldiers to under 100,000.

The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a law that will oblige men aged 18 to 30 to serve 18 months. Co-defence minister Tea Banh said this would inject fresh blood into the ageing military.

But critics charged that national service would provide ample opportunity for more bribery in a country already renowned for corruption, and warned that the aid-dependent kingdom could ill afford to boost spending on defence.

"The move will harm citizens, because if they want to leave the service or don't want to go in, they'll need to offer bribes to do so," opposition lawmaker Son Chhay charged.

"Even now the military services do not follow orders and regulations," he said, in a reference to widespread allegations that Cambodia's military is linked to illegal activities such as deforestation.

Political analyst Lao Mong Hay from the Centre for Social Development said the government may be moving to counter an impending crisis of youth unemployment.

Cambodia's economy, shattered by nearly three decades of conflict that officially ended in 1998, is set to be overwhelmed by the more than 150,000 new entrants forecast to join its labour market annually.

"Perhaps it's to obviate the explosion of such a problem," he said. "Cambodia actually needs to become a nation of lawyers, not a nation of warriors."

The government demobilised 15,000 servicemen in 2001 and agreed to cut back by another 15,000 in 2002. But the program stalled when incentives that included a cash equivalent of 240 dollars, motorbikes, sewing machines and other household goods given to those leaving, arrived late.

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