<!--QuoteBegin-BBC+-->QUOTE(BBC)<!--QuoteEBegin-->இதை நானும் பார்த்தேன். நான் குதிரை வாயால் எங்கே வந்தது என்று கேட்டேன்.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Tamil renegade commander warned
The Tamil Tigers accuse Colonel Karuna of lies
Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have warned that they plan to retake areas controlled by a renegade commander.
But a spokesman for the Tigers said they would try to do this without resorting to violence.
The renegade commander, Colonel Karuna, broke away from the northern leadership in a move that threatened to split the rebel group.
It also cast its shadow on the island's fragile peace process and the two-year-old ceasefire.
"Our leadership is taking careful steps to bring the [area under Colonel Karuna] back into control without any bloodshed or danger to our cadres," the Tigers' political chief, SP Thamilselvan, told the pro-rebel Tamilnet website.
By rejecting to abide by our movement's ruling he is pushing himself into a dangerous corner
Tamil Tiger leader SP Thamilselvan
Karuna interview highlights
"He may get away with this for a short period but will not be able to sustain it for long.
" By rejecting to abide by our movement's ruling he is pushing himself into a dangerous corner," Mr Thamilselvan said.
The political leader of the main Tiger group in the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, S Thilak, says members of both factions are "camping on the two banks of the Verugal river that marks the district border".
He was speaking to the AFP news agency after meeting Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim.
War threat
Earlier this week, the Tamil Tigers dismissed an allegation by Colonel Karuna that they were preparing for war, possibly after general elections in April.
"There is no truth in what Karuna says about war plans," spokesman Daya Master told the BBC on Wednesday.
"He is only trying to spread lies in order to justify his position."
A spokeswoman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission said it had asked Colonel Karuna to clarify the status of the ceasefire in the east.
Both the Tigers and Colonel Karuna's faction say they are committed to the truce with government troops, which has held for two years.
Colonel 'not alone'
In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, Colonel Karuna had said his split from the leadership - unprecedented in the rebels' history - was in the interests of peace.
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He said he was not overtly told of any war plan by the Tigers, who want autonomy for minority Tamils in the island's north and east.
But he believed war preparations were the reason why he was asked to send 1,000 of his troops to the north.
Colonel Karuna's power base is in the east of the island and he is unhappy that the bulk of the rebel fighters comes from this area, yet all the top leadership comes from the north.
He denies betraying the rebel movement and has rejected an amnesty offer from the leadership.
The colonel says there are 5,000 fighters in his camp, the biggest rebel base in the east of the island.
The BBC's Frances Harrison, who visited the camp, says it is clear the breakaway commander is not just one lone individual as alleged by the Tiger leadership when they expelled him on Saturday.
Talks between rebels and the government, which stalled last year, are on hold after a split between Sri Lanka's president and prime minister.
They disagree over how peace efforts should be handled - the parliamentary elections next month are an attempt to break the deadlock.
Efforts to end the 20-year-old conflict - which has claimed 60,000 lives - will be a central part of the election campaign.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3504292.stm