Dhaka: U Padi Pru, the president of a faction of the National United Party of Arakan, surrendered to the military government on 24 December at the western border town of Maungdaw, report party sources.

U Saw Hla Aung, General Secretary of NUPA, confirmed U Padi's surrender to the Burmese military government through Sarafa, Burma's military intelligence unit, along with a monk who is his nephew, in Maungdaw.

"It is a betrayal to the national cause by him. Even though he surrendered to the junta, we will carry out our movement ourselves. His surrender will not have a big affect on our movement or our party," he said.

The junta authority however, sees much significance in his surrender because it is a crucial time in Burma and in the conflict between the military government and the ethnic nationalities armies.

The authority immediately brought U Padi Pru to Sittwe, the capital of Arakan, a day after he surrendered to authorities in Maungdaw.

A politician from Sittwe said, "The surrender of U Padi Pru is a great opportunity for the military government to spread propaganda among the public. U Padi Pru is not only president of NUPA but also a patron of the Arakan National Council. The military junta will take the opportunity to use U Padi Pru's surrender to clean their terrible image."

The government authority may propagate through its media that the surrender of U Padi Pru is a consequence of him coming to understand the government's goodwill toward ethnic nationalities, the politician added.

U Padi Pru was elected in 2005 as the president of another faction of NUPA after the party split into two groups, with the other group being led by Dr. Khin Maung.

78-year-old U Padi Pru is a Khami national who led the Tribal National Party of Arakan after the Khami group split off from the Burma Communist Party (Arakan) around 1980. The TNP merged with NUPA in 1988. He had been opposed to the central government since 1962.