Sri Lankan troops were placed on alert Sunday as a renegade Tamil Tiger leader said he was being hunted by death squads and vowed to hit back, as the rival rebel camps purged subordinates whose loyalties were in doubt.
Government forces, which have remained neutral in the deepening crisis within the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), were on red alert fearing being caught in the crossfire and ordered troops to take maximum precautions.
"We are facing a very dangerous situation," a military commander in the east of the island said by telephone. "They could target us to drag us into the crisis. We are keen to avoid getting involved and have alerted troops."
Rebels close to regional commander V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, said he had received reports that death squads had been sent to get him after he was dismissed Saturday by Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, 49.
Karuna, 37, who is reportedly commanding 6,000 fighters, or about a third of the original LTTE force, was ready to fight back, rebel sources said.
They claimed that another regional Tiger commander, in neighbouring Trincomalee, had been placed under "house arrest" by the Tiger hierarchy, fearing he could side with Karuna.
Both factions were reportedly rounding up or placing under house arrest those whose loyalties were in doubt, military sources said.
Tension gripped Batticaloa, 303 kilometres (189 miles) east of here, as thousands of Karuna's supporters took to the streets and burnt effigies of Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman, residents said.
A vehicle parade was held in the east in support of Karuna, while there were also reports of smaller street marches in favour of the regional rebel commander.
Students from the Eastern University of Batticaloa left their hostels fearing an outbreak of factional war while authorities announced an indefinite postponement of all examinations. Karuna, the de facto number two in the LTTE, led the unprecedented breakaway after accusing his boss of giving key positions to Tamils from the north, known as Jaffna Tamils, overlooking the Batticaloa Tamils from the east.
His breakaway is by far the most serious challenge to Prabhakaran, who has been leading his organisation with an iron fist, with zero tolerance for dissent.
A Norwegian peace envoy, Erik Solheim, is due to arrive here Monday on a previously arranged visit to review the truce between the government and the LTTE that has been in place since February 2002, diplomats said.
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