Breakaway rebel will not disarm

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The leader of a breakaway Tamil Tiger rebel faction in eastern Sri Lanka says he has no plans to disarm his fighters.

Colonel Karuna was speaking to the BBC a day after the government celebrated what it says is the complete capture of the island's east from the Tigers.

His decision to split from the rebels is widely seen as having contributed to their defeats in the east.

The Tamil Tigers (LTTE) still control large swathes of the island's north where they run a de facto state.

Earlier on Friday, Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger fighters clashed in the north-western district of Mannar.

At least three soldiers and four rebel fighters were killed, the two sides said.

'Self-protection'

Col Karuna said Tamil Tiger intelligence personnel were still operating in the east of the island, even though it had been taken by government forces.

The army says it has taken all of the east

"If we disarm now, it will be dangerous for us. We want to carry arms for self-protection," he told the BBC's Tamil service.

He said the killing of the top bureaucrat in the eastern province earlier this week was proof of this.

He also once again rejected the widely held view that his forces and government troops have co-operated in the fight against the Tigers.

But he said his fighters had taken part in the battle for the former rebel eastern stronghold of Thopigalla, which the army captured last week.

Sri Lanka's military says it is now in control of all of the east for the first time since the mid-1990s. The government celebrated the capture as a national event on Thursday.

Some observers feel the importance of Col Karuna to the military will diminish after the capture of the east, but he rejects the suggestion.

"If the government thinks on those lines, it will only help the LTTE," he said.

Damaging split

Col Karuna split from the rebels in 2004, seriously weakening them.

He says he left the rebel movement because disproportionate numbers of cadres from the east, like him, were being sacrificed on the battlefield, while the rebels from the north controlled the organisation.

As rebel chief in the east he commanded several thousand fighters, but analysts say his forces now number only a few hundred at most.

The Tamil Tigers have always accused the government of providing shelter to him.

Col Karuna and the authorities deny this.