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Tamil Tigers `won't shed blood'

Tamil Tiger rebels backing Sri Lankan renegade rebel leader Karuna man a machine gun position on top of a building on Thursday in his Meenahanam Military Base in the jungles of Batticaloa district eastern Sri Lanka. Karuna said that he was willing to negotiate a separate peace with the government and the Tigers were no longer the sole representatives of the Tamil people. PHOTO: REUTERS

Explosions were heard Thursday from a Tamil Tiger rebel-held area in north-eastern Sri Lanka as government troops remained on alert amid fears of factional fighting, military officials said.

The blasts were heard from a rebel-held area of the Trincomalee district, but government military officials said they did not believe it was due to internal clashes among Tigers who split into two groups last week.

"The blasts were possibly mortar bombs fired in some sort of a rebel training exercise," a military official in the area said when contacted by telephone.

The renegade rebels too ruled out clashes and said they had checked on the reports of blasts heard in Trincomalee from their field commanders.

"We can confirm that there are no incidents in the Trincomalee area," a spokesman for renegade regional commander Karuna told reporters.

However, government forces are alert amid fears that the two factions could end up fighting and drag security forces into a fresh conflict.

Breakaway rebel leader said Thursday that he was ready for conditional talks with his former boss, but ruled out any compromise with the main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrilla movement.

LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran on Saturday sacked Karuna, who has, however, refused to step down.

Karuna who commands rebel forces in the island's eastern districts of Batticaloa and Ampara, just south of Trincomalee, said there was no going back to the LTTE.

Both sides have publicly vowed they would not resort to bloodshed to settle their differences.

Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, the eastern-based Tamil guerrilla leader also known as Karuna, said March 3 he was pulling out 40 percent of the group's 15,000 troops in an unprecedented split in the secretive organization.

The rebel schism has raised the prospect of a Tamil-versus-Tamil conflict on top of a continuing power struggle within Sri Lanka's government. The president, accusing the prime minister of being too soft on the rebels, has dismissed his government and called April 2 parliamentary elections.

"Our leadership is taking careful steps to bring the [east] back into control without any bloodshed or danger to our cadres," said S.P. Thamilselvan, the political chief of the Tamil Tigers.

"He may get away with this for a short period but will not be able to sustain this for long," Thamilselvan was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel Web site, TamilNet.

"By rejecting to abide by the movement's ruling he is pushing himself into a dangerous corner," Thamilselvan said, without elaborating.

A spokesman for Muralitharan said the renegade commander still had control of his fighters.

"All is fine with us and there is nothing to worry about," said Varathan, who like many Tamils use only one name.

Muralitharan said he pulled his forces out because he believes the movement may be preparing to go back to war.

Meanwhile, Norway's special peace envoy Erik Solheim was visiting Trincomalee Thursday after talks with the LTTE leadership in the northern Wanni region earlier in the day.

Solheim arrived here Monday on a previously-arranged visit to review the Oslo-arranged truce between government forces and the LTTE, but was now expected to focus on the Tiger split that is undermining his efforts.

Karuna said he led the split within the Tamil Tigers because Prabhakaran had asked for fresh soldiers to prepare for war. The main leadership was quick to deny the charge and said Karuna was trying to cover his own mistakes

Karuna has rejected an offer of amnesty from Prabhakaran, but said he was willing to work with his former leader to avoid bloodshed among the rebels.

Diplomats fear the rift further undermines Norway's efforts to end the Tigers' campaign for a separate Tamil homeland that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.
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