BATTICALOA, March 18: Death looms for Karuna alias Mulareetharan, the renegade member of the LTTE who holds command over the eastern region. The LTTE's supreme leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, in a statement aired over the rebel "Voice of Tigers", said that it was "too late" for Karuna, who had opted to break away from Prabhakaran's leadership, and that no appeals would be entertained.

Mr Prabhakaran's decision of not granting amnesty to Karuna was finalized on Wednesday after an apparent insult hurled at him by Karuna when he said he would never work under a leader who had "betrayed the people".

Soon after the rift between Karuna and Prabhakaran early this month, Vellupillai Prabhakaran had continued to portray a magnanimous image keeping open his amnesty for Karuna with the pledge that he would not be harmed.