Amid the international community's welcome of these developments, Lieutenant-General Walls publicly announced to the press his support for the new government and national dispensation of the Zimbabwean state. This caused some surprise in military, political and diplomatic circles involved, and acrimony between himself and Rhodesia's last Prime Minister, Ian Smith (who had known Walls' father when they had served together in the Royal Air Force), who privately accused him of betrayal during the negotiations in London for the Lancaster House Agreement. In consequence of his newly found conciliatory demeanour, Walls was maintained as the Commanding Officer of the new Zimbabwe national army by the new Government to oversee the integration of the black nationalist guerrilla units into its regular armed forces.