Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has blamed a retired leader for dividing the Muslim community.

This leader, he said, was making efforts to unite Muslims difficult.

"Under his administration, the Malay Muslims in this country were divided into three parties or groups.

"Now that he is retired, he has further divided (the Malay Muslims) to five (groups) by forming a new party.

"It is his nature, he likes to argue, be hypocritical, one moment slandering others, and then being nice," Najib wrote in his blog today.

While he mentioned no names, this was an obvious jab at his predecessor and nemesis, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been on a warpath to unseat him.

Mahathir, who is now the chairperson of Umno splinter group, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia(Bersatu), has accused Najib of corruption and misappropriating public funds, charges which the prime minister denies.

"He himself has been called the head of thieves, but everyone knows I'm not the first person he has wronged," Najib said.

"Many who were his victims in the past have been picked up for the sake of politics," Najib added.

This was perhaps a reference to Mahathir's willingness to work with the opposition, including DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, with whom he butted heads for decades.

Mahathir has also recently lent support to Anwar Ibrahim, the deputy prime minister he sacked in 1998, for Anwar's lawsuit to stop the National Security Council Act.

Najib ended his blog post by urging Muslims to stop fighting among one another and to join together to form a strong community.