A renegade faction of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers said on Monday it would consider a "friendly partnership" with the rebels' northern leaders in a stand-off that has complicated efforts to end 20 years of war on the island.
But Varathan, an aide to Karuna, the powerful eastern commander who broke ranks with the Tigers last week, said Karuna would never be subordinate to rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.
"I don't think in the future there will be any possibility of going under his command. But we can consider a friendly partnership for the purpose of the development of the people," Varathan said by telephone from the jungles of eastern Sri Lanka.
The Tigers, who have been fighting for a separate Tamil state in the north and east, expelled Karuna on Saturday for "acting traitorously to the Tamil people" but he is thought to command about 6,000 troops whose allegiance is unknown.
Varathan would not reveal the number of cadres under Karuna, but said his forces were committed to the truce the government and Tigers have observed since February 2002.
"He's going to focus all of his attention on development for the people in the east, so there is no need for war," Varathan said.
But the split in the rebel movement previously known for its fierce discipline complicates efforts to restart stalled peace talks already in turmoil because of a dispute between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Their wrangling over how to handle the peace process led the president to call a snap general election for April 2.
A strike in support of Karuna closed parts of the east on Monday, but the area was calm and police said the strike was only partially in force, with some areas seeing business as usual.
"We have extra police in the street, but there is no tension," said Lasantha de Silva, the senior superintendent of police in Batticaloa, Karuna's stronghold.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insist they remain in control, but their newly appointed eastern commander has yet to try to take back the rebel headquarters there. Residents said the only rebel authority visible in Batticaloa was Karuna's.
"Karuna has not left his office. At present the only leadership in Batticaloa is Karuna," said one resident who asked not to be named.
Varathan said it would not be possible for Ramesh, whom the Tigers named as Karuna's replacement, to return to the east.
"It would be totally impossible for him to come with a command from Wanni. We are already functioning under a separate command," he said. Wanni is the LTTE's power centre in the north.
On Sunday, towns in the area burned effigies of Prabhakaran - an act that would have been unthinkable before the split.
Residents said the law courts and police in rebel-held areas had been shut. Schools in Batticaloa were open although many fearful parents had kept their children at home.
A Colombo-based peace group said that Batticaloa residents from the northern Jaffna peninsula were receiving phone calls advising them to leave the area, and that students from the north attending Eastern University were already leaving.
"This type of ethnic and regional targeting of civilians is totally unacceptable," the National Peace Council said in a statement.
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