Myanmar's junta on Saturday said it would not engage in talks with coup dissidents, including members of Aung San Suu Kyi's ousted government, after a loyalist told the media that dialogue was necessary to save the country.
The country has been in chaos since a February coup, with more than 1,100 killed in a crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.
On Friday a spokesman for the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) called on junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to open dialogue with coup opponents to find a way out of the crisis.
Nandar Hla Myint, spokesman for the USDP told AFP: "We must talk for the interest of all our people in the country... It will be difficult to find a solution if we continue like this."
"Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing took responsibility for the country... His caretaker government is the most responsible for making the dialogue happen," he said.
While Nandar Hla Myint did not say whether discussions should include ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he pointed out that the Nobel laureate has not encouraged violence from the junta's opponents. Her National League for Democracy party trounced the USDP in elections last year, a result the military has alleged was due to fraud.
But late Saturday, in response to the news story, the Myanmar junta said it "cannot accept... dialogue and negotiation with terrorist armed groups", including a shadow government of lawmakers from Suu Kyi's ousted administration.
Almost nine months after seizing power, and unable to stamp out opposition to their rule, the generals are under increasing international pressure to engage with their opponents.
The United Nations said Friday it feared an even greater human rights catastrophe amid reports of thousands of troops massing in the north and west of the country, where soldiers have clashed regularly with local "self-defense forces".