Sri Lanka's renegade Tiger rebel leader abruptly ended a fierce factional battle Monday and demobilised thousands of his fighters in a move that attracted a government offer of asylum.
The Sri Lankan government said it was willing to consider a request for safe haven from renegade regional Tiger commander V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, who disbanded his faction after quitting fighting.
"If there is a request, we are willing to consider it on humanitarian grounds," defence secretary Cyril Herath told AFP. "But we have not heard from him."
"He is very much on his own. If there is a request for refuge, we will consider it," he added.
The main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had vowed to drive Karuna off their territory after describing him as a "traitor," which is a rebel euphemism for a death sentence.
The fighting that lasted four days and cost the lives of at least 10 rebels came to a halt when Karuna went underground after ordering an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 of his fighters to quit, guerrillas among those sent home told AFP.
"He spoke to the cadres at the Meenaham base last night in a farewell ceremony and told them to go to their families," a military source who spoke with the disbanded rebel units said. "He had said he did not want any bloodshed."
Karuna's whereabouts were not known, but rebel sources said the 37-year-old renegade who led an unprecedented split in the LTTE on March 3 had gone underground with a small band of guards.
He was unable to resist a major onslaught launched by the LTTE on Friday. Military sources said the fatalities on both sides could have been larger than rebels admitted and the scale of the losses may have shocked Karuna into submission.
"Over 400 to 500 in the Meenaham base were asked to go home," a 16-year-old Tiger fighter identified as Arulmoli told AFP here after joining her parents. "We were the only ones left after the others fled."
Karuna was a member of the LTTE's peace negotiating team and attended five out of the six rounds of talks that were suspended in April last year. Military sources said Karuna's fighters could no longer engage the northern leadership of the LTTE as he had failed to secure any support from government forces who had remained neutral in the conflict.
Some of his cadres went home taking what ever valuables they could, including motorcycles, residents said.
As Karuna's fighters melted away, LTTE cadres were steadily moving in.
Karuna's breakaway shattered the invincible image of his former boss, Velupillai Prabhakaran, 49, who is known to exercise iron-clad control over his group and have zero tolerance for dissent.
Karuna accused Prabhakaran of preparing for war despite a cease-fire with government forces in force since February 2002.
Comments
Comments are closed.