Government spokesman Mangala Samaraweera said there was "no official" involvement with the breakaway Tiger leader V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, but said rogue elements of the military had been responsible.

"Obviously, there have been military personnel involved ... that we cannot deny," Samaraweera said, acknowledging for the first time that security forces were involved in backing Karuna who had been leading an underground military campaign against his former bosses.

Samaraweera, who is also the media minister, said there was no "formal" probe but believed that the defence ministry would "get to the bottom of it."

Sri Lanka's defence secretary Cyril Herath offered safe passage to Karuna when the Tigers mounted a major offensive against the renegades in the island's east in April.

Shortly after Karuna went underground after disbanding some 5,000 to 6,000 fighters under his command, the Tigers warned of "irreparable damage" to the Norwegian-led peace initiative if the Sri Lankan military or political parties moved to exploit their unprecedented rift.

WAR.WIRE