Mar 11, 2009 (DVB), A son of the late Karen National Union leader, Bo Mya, has joined a pro-government Karen splinter group led by General Htein Maung, KNU General Secretary (1) Hla Ngwe said.

Nay Soe Mya met with Htein Maung in Rangoon on 15 February, when UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojeas Quintana was there. When news of this visit reached the KNU, he was expelled, said Hla Ngwe.

He then went to Naypyidaw to meet with Major General Yeh Min.

"You can say that he joined them after he went there," said Hla Ngwe.

Bo Mya and his wife Lar Poe, who is the chairwoman of the Karen Women's Organisation, have four sons and three daughters. Nay Soe Mya is the sixth child.

"We didn’t give him the permission," said Hla Ngwe. "He went there of his own accord, and his mother tried to stop him."

Nay Soe Mya had reportedly told the KNU that he went to see his uncle and only visited Rangoon.

"We warned him not to do this kind of thing, and he disappeared," said Hla Ngwe. "We thought he went to Bangkok, and we learned later that he went to Mr Quintana on 18 March.

"We expelled him after that."

"His father did his revolutionary activities from the start to his death under the leadership of our organisation," continued Hla Ngwe. "His children and wife became central committee members.

"We persuaded Nay Soe Mya to carry out the revolution like his father, and not to do like his uncle," he added.

"Even his family could not stop him when it comes to anti-revolutionary self-interest and personal thinking."

Reporting by Aye Nai