Kilinochchi (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebel group offered an amnesty to its expelled renegade commander today (March 8, 2004) and stressed he was alone in his battle to break away from the main guerrilla group.

"Our national leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has offered an amnesty to Karuna that will allow him to lead a private life,'' the rebel group's political wing chief S P Thamilselvan said.

He said the message had been conveyed to the renegade commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna, through a delegation led by a Roman Catholic Bishop.