The pro-rebel Tamilnet website quoted a Tiger political wing leader, C. Ilamparithi accusing President Chandrika Kumaratunga of strengthening her security forces to renew hostilities despite the Norway-brokered truce that has been in place since February 2002.

"We are certain of victory if the Sri Lanka government launches a war to occupy our traditional homeland," Ilamparithi said over the weekend.

"Sri Lanka's president is not keen on maintaining the current peace environment. Her deeds and words are leading Sri Lanka to renewed hostility and war."

No comment was immediately available from the government on the rebel allegations.

The statements came as police accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of gunning down a rival Tamil rebel, Kandiah Yogarasa, in the capital Colombo Saturday.

Police said Yogarasa, 41, was a top informant for the military and had been in contact with a renegade Tiger leader, V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, who led a split in March and went underground five weeks later.

The Tigers have accused the government of trying to crush their organisation by using the breakaway leader Karuna whose whereabouts are unknown.