Tamil Tigers sack breakaway leader
By CNN Correspondent Kasra Naji
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Tamil Tigers military leader Vellupillai Probakaran inspects a commando motorcycle unit.
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- The Tamil Tiger rebel group says it has relieved one of its top military commanders, Colonel Karuna, of his duties after the renegade leader voluntarily split from the group.
Karuna has approached the Sri Lankan government to request a separate cease-fire agreement, defense ministry officials say.
There is already a cease-fire in place for Sri Lanka's 20-year civil war, following an agreement reached between the rebels and the government in 2002.
"Karuna has been discharged from the Liberation Tigers organization and relieved of his responsibilities," a statement from the Tamil Tigers Web site said Saturday.
Defense ministry officials Thursday confirmed a report from the rebel-held territory in eastern Sri Lanka that the rebel leader known as Colonel Karuna has already approached the government with his request.
The split has raised concerns about the two-year-old cease-fire agreement.
Earlier this week, top government officials discussed the crisis in the rebel ranks in a hastily arranged meeting. But the government spokesman speaking afterwards sought to allay fears of a possible breakdown of the cease-fire.
"There is nobody in the LTTE that has indicated in any shape or form that the cease-fire is not going to be adhered to," said the government spokesman, G.L. Peiris.
The rebels have been fighting government forces for more than 20 years, demanding a homeland for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka. They say Tamils are discriminated against by majority Sinhalese.
More than 65,000 people have been killed in the civil war so far.
The split within the rebel ranks -- the first since their inception in the early 1980s -- may further complicate the peace process between the rebels and the government. The process has already been stalled because of disagreements within the government about how to proceed.
Infighting is possible among the rebels, who have at least 10,000 men and women under arms.
On Thursday, the rebels admitted for the first time that there was a crisis in their ranks.
S.P. Thamilchelvan, the leader of the political wing of the Tamil Tigers, was quoted as saying the crisis "is only a temporary one and a resolution will be reached soon."
He was speaking in northern Sri Lanka to the head of the Scandinavian cease-fire monitors, who had traveled to the rebel territory to discuss the developments.
Thamilchelvan was quoted as saying the top rebel leader, Vellupillai Probakaran, was holding discussions with several key rebel commanders about the crisis.
Tamil Tiger rebels control two separate regions in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Until Wednesday, Karuna, who leads the rebel movement in the east of the country, had been reporting to Probakaran, who is in the north.
Karuna has complained of systematic discrimination against eastern Tamils by Probakaran.
The split has surprised many observers who say the ruthless and fiercely disciplined group does not brook dissent within its ranks.
