Armed ethnic opposition group the Karen National Union explained recent divisions within the group as the result of government efforts to create discord among its members.

A statement issued by the KNU on Thursday evening said that the Burmese junta’s recent overtures to the organization were “insincere” and urged fellow Karen to remain unified.

In recent months, junta officials have met Karen peace brokers for unofficial talks, during which they offered medical treatment in Rangoon for ailing KNU leader Gen Bo Mya. The offer was rejected.

During a meeting last month with Bo Mya, intelligence official Col Myat Htun Oo of Military Affairs Security said the government wanted to hold “soldier-to-soldier” talks rather than meeting with the rebel group’s political leaders. KNU leaders dismissed the claim.

“If the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] wants to discuss with the KNU honestly, they have to stop the fighting and forced relocation and killing of the Karen people,” Mahn Sha, the general secretary of the KNU, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

Thursday’s statement was issued following accusations by the Karen National Liberation Army’s 7th Brigade and other military divisions that unnamed KNU leaders were corrupt, and any statements or orders issued by them would be ignored.

The accusations were issued in a joint announcement, which said that “some leaders” of the KNU Central Committee elected last year were corrupt, and which was signed by Brig-Gen Htain Maung and Col Ner Dah Mya, the tactical commander of the KNU’s General Headquarters Battalions and the son of Bo Mya.

Senior KNU officials are expected to meet with KNLA members later on Friday to discuss the accusations.

The SPDC and KNU reached a “gentlemen agreement” to end fighting in January 2004 during ceasefire talks led by Bo Mya in Rangoon.

Since February 2006, Burmese troops have conducted widespread offensives in Karen State and Pegu Division that have sent villagers fleeing to the jungles and the Thai-Burmese border in the thousands.