Colombo: Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead another rival in eastern Sri Lanka as the rebels put on a major show of force in the Northern peninsula of Jaffna by way of public rally.

A supporter of the rival Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) was gunned down in the town of Akkaraipattu, police said. They suspected the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was behind the killings.

The killing came as the LTTE staged a mass rally in Jaffna to mark what they call "Pongu Tamil," or Tamil re-awakening. The Pongu Thamil celebration adopted a resolution demanding the withdrawal of military camps in the Jaffna peninsula.

"We want our land. Hence Sri Lanka Army should leave our land. To restore normalcy in our lives, an interim administration with full powers should be handed over to the LTTE. The international community should come forward to recognize such interim administration," the resolution said.

"We cannot think of peace while our lands and homes are occupied by the government troops. Under this circumstance peace talks should be held on the basis of traditional homeland, self determination and Tamil nationalism concepts and a just and lasting political solution should be found for the ethnic conflict.

Sri Lankan troops had reduced their presence in the Jaffna town in a bid to prevent clashes and Scandinavian truce monitors were called in to ensure that there was no violence. It was the first time since the ceasefire went into effect in February 2002 that the Tigers were staging a Pongu Tamil in Jaffna, an area they lost to government forces in December 1995.

Sri Lankan police and troops stepped up security and intensified a search for Tamil Tiger gunmen on June 27 following a spate of killings despite a Norwegian-arranged truce. A police official said that Inspector-General T I Anandarajah ordered the setting up of surprise check points in and around to capital Colombo to track down would-be assassins.

A large number of check points and road blocks were dismantled by the new government shortly after it came to power in December 2001 and revived a Norwegian-backed peace bid aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed.

The latest move to step up checks follows June 23's slaying of a top police intelligence officer by a suspected member of the LTTE at a police station near the capital Colombo. Government's chief peace negotiator, G L Peiris said that the government had protested to the LTTE through Norwegian peace brokers about the spate of killings.

PTI