Colombo: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran today ( Nov 27) said his plan for an interim self-governing authority in Sri Lanka's north and east was not a move towards a separate state, but warned of secession if the Government denies rights to the Tamils.

Delivering his annual Heroes Week address, Prabhakaran said his Interim Self-Governing Authority plan, unveiled last month, had been "misinterpreted as a project for a separate state."

"It is true that our proposal .calls for substantial self-governing authority without which massive programmes for the resettlement and rehabilitation could not be undertaken," he said.

He said the peace plan put forward through Norwegian peace brokers could be a starting point for negotiations and was not a final settlement.

However, he threatened secession if the Government continued to deny the rights to the Tamil people.

"If the Sinhala chauvinistic ruling elite continue to deny the rights of our people and oppose reconciliation and if the conditions of oppression continue, we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state invoking the right to self-determination of our people.

"We urge the Sinhala political leadership not to create the objective conditions that would drive our people to seek this ultimate option," Prabhakaran said.

PTI