COLOMBO, Jan 10: Kofi Annan's two-day visit to Sri Lanka ended on Sunday amid fresh tension between government and Tiger rebels after President Chandrika Kumaratunga acknowledged she had blocked the UN chief's tour to rebel strongholds.

Before departing, Mr Annan said he wanted to return to Sri Lanka after ending his tour of the ravaged island without visiting rebel controlled areas. "I'm hoping to come back... and see all parts of the country and be of help to accelerate the peace process," Annan told a media conference when asked whether the government had blocked him from visiting areas under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The president said on Sunday in an interview with US television channel CNN she had no second thoughts about asking Annan to reconsider his plans to visit rebel-held territories.

"The problem was about one part of the north which is entirely rebel held," Kumaratunga said. "That was the area that we advised the secretary-general that it was better that he does not go."

"We could have taken him to Jaffna - we suggested that - but I think the secretary general didn't have the time to do so many trips." The Tamil Tigers reacted angrily, saying the blocking of Annan's visit was "discriminatory".

"This is a clear indicator of the discriminatory pattern that the government of Sri Lanka adopts when it comes to the problems of the Tamil people," S.P. Thamilselvan, head of the LTTE's political wing, told the BBC.

"The Tamil people have faced disappointments and shocking things throughout their history, but this is the most disappointing out of all the disappointments." The government earlier Sunday said it had worked out Annan's programme with UN officials "taking into account the security, programming and time considerations involved."

Annan's controversial tour also triggered anger in Jaffna where hundreds of people staged a protest. "Around 300 people held a peaceful protest outside the UN office in Jaffna and gave us a memorandum which we will forward to the secretary general through our country coordinating office," Richard Barkle, assistant field officer at UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told AFP.

The row over Annan's visit has again brought the simmering tensions between the government and the LTTE to the fore. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, which affected three-quarters of Sri Lanka's coastline and left more than 30,700 people dead, the two camps were seen cooperating in the rescue operations.

But in recent days tensions resurfaced, with the Tigers accusing the government, in its relief efforts, of neglecting Tamil-majority areas in favour of Sinhalese-dominated southern areas - claims the government denies.

The meteorology department, meanwhile, warned that the island was in danger of being hit by a cyclone that was building off its east coast. "It is not a cyclone at the moment but there is a possibility of a cyclone within the next 24 hours," department deputy director Lalith Chandrapala said.

Alerts were being sounded on radio telling tsunami ravaged people to be "cautious and vigilant," he said. A low pressure system had developed in the Bay of Bengal around 300 Kilometres south east of the town of Hambantota, Chandrapala said. "There is no immediate threat to Sri Lanka but if it develops into a cyclone then we will issue a cyclone alert." -AFP