Renegade LTTE faction calls off war

Aid workers and government officials here said Tamil refugees were going back to their homes after renegades ended four days of fighting on Monday on the eve of the traditional Sinhalese and Tamil New Year.

Most of the 11,000 people who had fled the fighting between the main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the breakaway faction since Friday had now moved back to their homes, aid workers said.

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Residents said the LTTE had also planned to free hundreds of cadres loyal to renegade commander V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, who had surrendered after giving up fighting his battle with the main rebel leadership.

Karuna Monday demobilised thousands of his fighters and went underground in a surprise move that attracted a government offer of asylum "on humanitarian grounds".

The Sri Lankan government said it was willing to consider a request for safe haven from Karuna, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

"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."

Military officials said lower level cadres of Karuna's faction had surrendered at a local military camp and at police stations in the east of the island after 18 men gave themselves up to the navy on Sunday.

The fighting, which cost the lives of at least 10 rebels, came to a halt when Karuna ordered an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 of his fighters to quit, guerrillas among those sent home told AFP.

Renegade sources said the 37-year-old renegade who led an unprecedented split in the LTTE on March 3, had gone to ground with a small band of guards.

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.