Tamil Tiger renegades killed as they slept

EIGHT suspected members of a breakaway Tamil Tiger faction were shot as they slept at a rebel safe-house in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo yesterday, in an attack blamed on the months-old split in the senior ranks of the rebel leadership.

A Tamil website said those killed were supporters of the renegade Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as "Karuna", and included one of his deputies. There was no sign of a gunfight at the isolated house where the men were found dead on mats on the floor, police officer Wickrama Perera said.

The killings appeared to have been carried out by someone inside the house, Mr Perera said. He added: "There is no evidence of a clash, or that someone has entered the house."

The rebels said Muralitharan loyalists killed their sleeping comrades and then surrendered to the mainstream organisation. One of the victims, identified only as Kuganesan, was the second-in-command in the faction, the rebels said on their website devoted to the island’s peace efforts.

"The killings are confirmed, but we can’t say who is dead and who is responsible," a police official said.

The website, Tamilnet, said the assailants were believed to be gunmen from the main faction of the LTTE. It also said a Sri Lankan military intelligence official was among the dead, but police denied this.

"The directorate of military intelligence of the army headquarters categorically denies the army’s involvement in the above incident and the Sri Lanka army further assures that no intelligence operative is among the dead," the police said in a brief statement.

The police official said the killings took place at a residence believed to be a Tamil rebel safe house in Kottawa, an outer suburb of Colombo.

Residents said they heard bangs a few hours before dawn yesterday, but thought it was fireworks set off to stop monkeys from raiding orchards. They said the house - a plush double-storey building set in a rubber plantation and surrounded by a 6ft brick wall - had been rented about two weeks ago by a man believed to be a key Karuna associate.

Yesterday, police and army investigators swarmed over the house looking for clues. In the driveway, police experts dusted a Japanese saloon car for fingerprints as a bomb squad team checked the premises for booby traps.

Karuna, one of the most senior Tamil commanders, split from the LTTE earlier this year, prompting a crisis in the group, which has been fighting for decades in a war that has claimed over 64,000 lives.

Although the LTTE has regained control of the eastern areas formerly commanded by Karuna, the group accuses the government of supporting him in order to drive a wedge through their ranks.

Meanwhile, a team of Norwegian negotiators, led by deputy foreign minister Vida Helgesen, arrived in Colombo yesterday afternoon in the latest attempt to re-start the peace process.

The process faltered in April last year with government and Tigers divided over the agenda for resuming talks. The rebels want discussions based on their proposals for interim self-rule, while the government wants parallel talks on a final settlement.

Before leaving Oslo, Mr Helgesen said certain elements in the conflict "were playing with fire", and that the process was at a crucial stage.

"Sixteen months have passed without a high-level meeting between the parties and that is a very long time," he said.

"We are not optimistic about getting them back to the negotiating table because there is so little confidence between them."

Mr Helgesen is due to travel to Kilinochchi in the rebel-held north today to meet SP Thamilselvan, leader of the LTTE’s political wing, and is to meet the president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, and the prime minister in Colombo before he leaves on Thursday.