A SUICIDE bomber on a motorcycle rammed into a car carrying Sri Lanka’s third-highest ranking military officer yesterday and blew himself up, killing the general and three other people, officials said.

Norwegian envoy Eric Solheim arrived in northern Sri Lanka for crucial talks with the reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels today, amid fears the island could return to civil war after four years of relative calm.

SRI Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels reacted angrily yesterday to the election of hardline President Mahinda Rajapakse, saying it showed that the island's Sinhalese majority had no understanding of Tamil aspirations for a homeland.

Tamil Tiger rebels today announced they may start using their own armed escorts for guerrillas travelling through government-held areas, defying Sri Lanka’s three-year-old ceasefire and pushing it to the brink of collapse.

Sri Lanka’s government today signed a deal to share international tsunami aid with the Tamil Tiger rebels, officials said, despite bitter protests by critics who said it threatened the country’s sovereignty.