Tamil threat to breakaway Tiger

The Tamil Tigers say Colonel Karuna (right) is a traitor

Tamil Tiger rebels have threatened to kill the leader of a major faction who split from the group early this month.

"To safeguard our nation and our people, it has been decided to get rid of Karuna from our soil," the group said in on a pro-Tiger website.

Colonel Karuna took 6,000 troops of the 15,000-strong rebel movement with him when he left.

The internal split has thrown further doubt on the island's two-year-old ceasefire and fragile peace process.

Colonel Karuna left complaining that the east of Sri Lanka was not being represented by the rebels' northern-based leaders.

The Tamil leadership at first sought to play down the split, but their tone has changed dramatically in the latest statement.

'Treachery'

"Our cadres should comprehend Karuna's treachery and keep away from him," said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the Tamilnet website.

"Anybody who opposes disciplinary action against Karuna, will be considered as a traitor to the Tamil National cause."

The statement said fighters who abandoned Colonel Karuna - whose real name is Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan - had permission to rejoin their families.

Correspondents say the vow to "get rid of" Colonel Karuna is unlikely to mean simply expelling him, as there is little tolerance for insubordination.

No comment has been reported from Colonel Karuna's camp.

Peace hopes shrink

The schism threatens to scuttle delicate peace negotiations between the Tigers and the government, and the risk looms of an internecine Tamil war, correspondents warn.

The Tigers pulled out of the talks last April, saying they were being sidelined.

Peace efforts then suffered a further setback when the president and the prime minister fell out over the handling of negotiations.

More than 60,000 people have died in two decades of war in Sri Lanka since the Tigers began their fight for autonomy for minority Tamils.