Sri Lankaâs Tamil Tiger rebels expelled a regional commander on Saturday after labelling him a âtraitorâ for mounting the first-ever open challenge to the groupâs leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they âdischargedâ their eastern commander, V. Muralitharan, better known by his nom-de-guerre, Karuna, who tried to lead a breakaway faction on Wednesday. âKaruna has been discharged from the Liberation Tigers organisation and relieved from official responsibilities,â the LTTE said in a statement issued from their political headquarters in northern Kilinochchi town.
| "You can't quit! You're fired!" |
The split has been seen by diplomats and analysts as a serious blow to the already faltering Norwegian-led peace process aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. The crisis fuelled fears the country could slide back into civil war after the government rejected the breakaway Tiger commanderâs request for a defence pact and separate truce. The rift in the Tamil leadership comes amid snap national elections set for April 2, nearly four years ahead of schedule. The elections were called by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who accused arch political rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of ceding too much in negotiations to end the ethnic conflict. It was not immediately clear what action the Tigers would seek to take against Karuna, 37, but the rebels have eliminated hundreds of rivals in their bid to lead the islandâs long-running Tamil separatist campaign. The Tigers also have killed scores of Tamils they have branded âtraitorsâ to their cause.
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