03-03-2004, 10:06 PM
B B C யால் யாழ் களத்தில் செய்தி திரிவு படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது வேதனை தருகிறது.
Sri Lankan rebels 'deny split'
By Frances Harrison
BBC correspondent in Colombo
Any split could complicate forthcoming elections
A pro-rebel website in Sri Lanka has run a story denying there is any major split in the Tamil Tiger rebel group.
A spokesman quoted the senior rebel commander in the east, Colonel Karuna, as saying he would take orders in the future directly from the Tiger leader.
There had been reports of a rift between Colonel Karuna and the Tiger chief in northern Sri Lanka.
The news comes as Norwegian mediators and the Sri Lankan prime minister held emergency talks about the reports.
Legitimacy hope
It is not clear why Colonel Karuna has not spoken himself to deny reports of an internal rebellion, though his life would be in danger if he had really mounted a challenge to the Tiger leader, Vellupillai Prabakharan.
Rebels loyal to Colonel Karuna spoke privately about a request from the Tiger leader for 1,000 rebels to be sent from the east of the island to the north.
They said this order had not been obeyed by Colonel Karuna and suggested this was because of unhappiness about the fighting force predominately coming from the east of the island while the rebel movement was run by northerners.
But it is not known why this long-standing grievance should erupt now, just as campaigning is underway for general elections.
The Tigers are not directly contesting, but they are backing a group of Tamil parties - who are their proxies - in the hope the vote will give them political legitimacy.
Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim said there was a new situation in the east that had triggered a crisis meeting involving the Sri Lankan prime minister and international ceasefire monitors.
But Mr Solheim would not give details and it is still not really clear whether there is a major crisis within the rebel movement or not.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3530887.stm
Sri Lankan rebels 'deny split'
By Frances Harrison
BBC correspondent in Colombo
Any split could complicate forthcoming elections
A pro-rebel website in Sri Lanka has run a story denying there is any major split in the Tamil Tiger rebel group.
A spokesman quoted the senior rebel commander in the east, Colonel Karuna, as saying he would take orders in the future directly from the Tiger leader.
There had been reports of a rift between Colonel Karuna and the Tiger chief in northern Sri Lanka.
The news comes as Norwegian mediators and the Sri Lankan prime minister held emergency talks about the reports.
Legitimacy hope
It is not clear why Colonel Karuna has not spoken himself to deny reports of an internal rebellion, though his life would be in danger if he had really mounted a challenge to the Tiger leader, Vellupillai Prabakharan.
Rebels loyal to Colonel Karuna spoke privately about a request from the Tiger leader for 1,000 rebels to be sent from the east of the island to the north.
They said this order had not been obeyed by Colonel Karuna and suggested this was because of unhappiness about the fighting force predominately coming from the east of the island while the rebel movement was run by northerners.
But it is not known why this long-standing grievance should erupt now, just as campaigning is underway for general elections.
The Tigers are not directly contesting, but they are backing a group of Tamil parties - who are their proxies - in the hope the vote will give them political legitimacy.
Norwegian peace envoy Erik Solheim said there was a new situation in the east that had triggered a crisis meeting involving the Sri Lankan prime minister and international ceasefire monitors.
But Mr Solheim would not give details and it is still not really clear whether there is a major crisis within the rebel movement or not.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3530887.stm