The Loyalist Volunteer Force yesterday claimed it had "learned the precise reason why its prisoners had been excluded from the early-release scheme".
It accused the Progressive Unionist Party of working to keep the LVF prisoners from getting early release.
In a statement issued in Portadown yesterday, a person describing himself as a senior member of the LVF ruling army council denied recent reports of a split in the group, saying they were "speculative and without foundation".
He also said his organisation had obtained specific information "through its own contacts" which showed that, prior to announcing which groups would qualify for the early release of prisoners, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Dr Mo Mowlam, met representatives of the PUP. This meeting, the LVF claimed, took place only a few days before Dr Mowlam announced which groups qualified for early release, an announcement which excluded LVF prisoners, despite the group having declared a ceasefire last May.
The LVF spokesman continued: "The PUP, it would appear, are happy to see republicans released, but not so loyalists."
In response to the LVF statement, Mr David Ervine of the PUP said: "This statement neatly matches the absurdity of all their previous statements - no one knows what is going on in their heads."
The spokesman went on to say that to date the LVF was "the only group to have publicly stated that its war is over", yet despite this announcement, the British government had yet to recognise the validity of its ceasefire.
Once Dr Mowlam publicly recognises the LVF ceasefire and its prisoners become eligible for early release, then the organisation would "proceed with a token act of decommissioning almost immediately" - an act the LVF says all victims of violence would welcome wholeheartedly.
The Northern Ireland Office yesterday declined to respond to the LVF statement.