The two separate clashes Saturday night occurred in areas controlled by the mainstream rebel group in Tharavai, 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of the capital, Colombo, Brig. Daya Ratnayake said.

``We are still gathering reports, but our intelligence sources say that there were four fatalities,'' Brig. Daya Ratnayake said.

He said all those killed belonged to the mainstream rebel group.

The two rebel factions split a year ago. Recent killings have threatened a three-year cease-fire between the government and the guerrillas.

The Tamil Tigers began fighting a civil war in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. About 65,000 people were killed before the Norway-brokered cease-fire.

Peace talks broke down a year later when the Tigers withdrew, demanding wide-ranging autonomy in the Tamil-majority northeast. Published: Sun Mar 27 11:07:42 EST 2005

Also hitting out at the Government, the CEBEU President accused the Government of merely going ahead with the process ‘just for the money’. He also claimed that the Government had failed to even initiate a discussion with the employees and had resorted to an ad hoc based manner in the restructuring process.

“The restructuring is not going to help the situation the CEB is faced with now, but the Government is doing it for the money, he noted. “If there is anywhere a little money, they want to get it, maybe they might even use it for their referendum,” the senior CEB official alleged.

The Asian Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Corporation, which are two donor agencies pressurizing the Government to go ahead with the process have only pledged a sum of US $ 60 million ( Rs. 6 Billion), which is not even 10% if CEB’s total debt. “No donor is going to come forward and grant us even a cent; they will give us only loans which we will have to repay some day. And even if they lend a loan it will be only a few million dollars, not the entire 80 billion.” CEBEU President Piyatilake noted. .

He also emphasized that the most important thing that should be done is not to restructure the Board but to find what sort of a mess the CEB is in right now and how did it occur and address these issues immediately.

“The mess we are in right now is because of the high generation cost. Sri Lanka generates some 65% of its electricity from liquid fuel, while the balance is from hydro. The foremost important thing that should be done is not to restructure the CEB but start immediate construction of a coal fired power plant,” he stressed.

Mr. Piyatilake also noted that Sri Lanka’s biggest problem is that it depends a lot on liquid fuel for electricity, while world statistics show that only 7% fuel is utilized for electricity generation while 40% electricity is generated through coal. “The world depends less on fuel because it is expensive and its price volatility,” he noted. Published: Sun Mar 27 05:49:22 EST 2005

``Time has come to tell this cricket-loving nation that there ought to be a total care for the sports and nothing else,'' Sumathipala told a news conference Sunday after the fast moving events.

The administration of SLC was taken over Friday by a committee appointed by the government, which said the board had mismanaged funds and did not follow government guidelines.

Sports Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga was also displeased by the board's decision to send Sumathipala to represent it at international meetings of the sports world body, the International Cricket Council.

``We disagree with the decision and decided to elect a new committee today,'' Sumathipala said. ``What matters at the end is the game, how we play it and how we organize it.''

Sumathipala, whose family's business empire runs into publishing and restaurants, held the board presidency for periods between 1999 to 2003 and was sacked by the then sports minister in 2001 over unproven corruption allegations.

Sumathipala said he and a seven-member committee was elected unopposed at the cricket board's meeting attended by 94 percent of the members.

The new committee included Aravinda de Silva, Duleep Mendis and Romesh Kaluwitharana, all former national players.

``We feel that the decision of the sports minister will have a very bad impact on Sri Lankan cricket and therefore we decided to put this new body in order,'' De Silva said.

There was no immediate comment available from Kumaratunga, but under Sri Lankan law the government and the sports minister enjoy wide powers and can suspend or even dissolve any elected body. National teams of each sports must to approved by the sports minister before it is made official.

``One things is very clear, that as a cricket playing nation we look pretty bad that we are not able to manage our own affairs,'' De Silva said.

As soon as the news of the new board became public, dozens of teenage Sri Lankans assembled at the cricket board's office to place garland's on Sumathipala. Published: Sun Mar 27 07:58:18 EST 2005