Breakaway faction of Tamils ‘falling apart’

THE renegade rebel army of a commander who defected from the Tamil Tiger separatists and placed Sri Lanka’s cease-fire in jeopardy was falling apart yesterday, following their retreat from battle with the mainstream guerrillas, military sources said.

The northern-based Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam were so certain of victory from their weekend advance against the renegade Eastern Tigers that they scheduled a meeting with the European ceasefire monitors, said Hagrup Haukland, deputy chief of the monitors.

Military sources in Colombo said they were unsure whether renegade leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralithanran also known as Karuna had fled the area or remained holed up at his base in Thoppigala, 75 miles north of Colombo.

Muralitharan split with the rebels early last month in a dispute over regional rivalry and political strategy, taking 6,000 of the group's 15,000 fighters and claiming control over a portion of eastern Sri Lanka.

Northern-based rebels aiming to reclaim that territory launched an offensive on Friday that repulsed the Eastern Tigers from their front line along the Verugal River, north of Thoppigala.

State radio said that around 2,000 of Muralitharan's troops had abandoned their posts.

Military officials in eastern Sri Lanka, said yesterday that around 500 more of his cadres dispersed overnight and left the area for their homes.

Yesterday, the renegade faction abandoned its massive Meenaham military base, home to thousands of fighters and weaponry, rebel and military sources earlier said.

"According to information we have received, Karuna seems to have given up," Eric Solheim, a key broker for the Norwegian-backed peace process, told The Associated Press.

The two sides have been squared off since the split last month between Karuna and long-time Tigers chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

"Muralitharan has retreated to his jungle hide-out, accompanied by a small number of his closest supporters and bodyguards," reported TamilNet, the pro-Tamil Tiger Web site.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese Buddhists and minority Tamil Hindus began celebrating the new lunar calendar today. They started a week of celebrations in which they will forgo work and follow traditions that include taking oil baths.