Colombo: In their first reaction to Parliamentary polls won by Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga's political alliance, Tamil Tiger rebels today (Apr 5, 2004) warned they would renew their fight to win their demands if the new Government denied them autonomy.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said their overwhelming sweep of the island's North and East in Friday's (Apr 2, 2004) general election was a "major victory" and an endorsement of their nationalist struggle.

"A clear message has been effectively delivered by the Tamil people, in that, the concept of the Tamil homeland, Tamil nationalism and the right for Tamil self rule should be accepted as the basic aspirations of the Tamil people.

"..and that the Tamil national problem should be politically resolved on that basis, failing which the Tamil people will fight to establish the Tamil sovereignty in their homeland on the principle of self determination," the rebels said in a statement.

The warning posted on the LTTE's peace secretariat website came hours after results of the poll were officially released showing President Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance (FA) leading the pack with 105 seats in the 225-member Parliament but still short of an absolute majority.

Although Kumaratunga herself was not in the running, she spearheaded the election campaign and will now choose a Prime Minister from among her party's short-list of legislators-elect.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), whose candidates are LTTE proxies, pulled in at third place with 22 places, giving the group enough clout in the legislature to make or break the new Government.

Tamils in the once war-torn North and East voted for the first time in 27 years, although the result was marred by allegations of widespread impersonation by the LTTE from other Tamil candidates.

The LTTE said that its success at the polls showed that they were the sole representatives of the island's Tamil minority, a point that has been disputed by Kumaratunga during the run-up to the polls.

Kumaratunga, who is in an alliance with the hard-line Marxist People's Liberation Front (JVP), pledged to hold peace negotiations with the Tigers to end year of ethnic strife but said she would also listen to other Tamil voices.

"The Tamil people have elevated the Tamil national struggle to a noble pedestal so that none could vilify or ignore it," the LTTE said. "We consider this as a major political victory for our freedom struggle."

There was no indication of the rebels' intention to resume peace talks with the new Government that must prove its majority at the first session of the next Parliament on April 22, but the LTTE said it must accept their proposals for an "interim self-governing authority" seeking greater regional autonomy.

Kumaratunga's political rival, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, took a drubbing at the polls, apparently rejected by voters for the concessions he was willing to make to the LTTE in exchange for halting the war.

The new Government faces the added complication of an unprecedented split in the ranks of the Tamil Tigers, a fact that the LTTE's statement evaded touching on.