Kumaratunga's office said in a statement that she had by letter dated Tuesday informed the government that she had decided to return the land ''granted to her on a unanimous decision taken by the cabinet of ministers of the previous government.''

The land, conservatively valued at about $3 million, was granted by the Urban Development Authority.

There have been press reports that the attorney general had opposed the gift, arguing that the Urban Development Authority may part with land under its purview only for an ''urban development purpose.''

Victor Ivan, the editor of the Sinhalese-language weekly newspaper Ravaya, has gone to court challenging the land grant as illegal and the case has been listed for hearing.

The statement issued by Kumaratunga's office on the return of the land said the grant was made to her on the basis of her decision to forego several entitlements including a monthly pension, official residence and other perks of a former president.

Critics noted that the land was granted to her freehold whereas all perquisites of a former president were limited to her lifetime.

The government has provided Kumaratunga with a security detail, several official vehicles including armored luxury vehicles, and an office and staff.

Kumaratunga said that she had not claimed compensation from the state for the ''political assassination'' of her film star husband and serious injuries, including the permanent loss of one eye, when the Tamil Tigers attempted to assassinate her during the presidential election campaign in 1999.

In her letter to the urban development minister, Kumaratunga also said her family surrendered thousands of acres to the state under a land-reform law promulgated by the government of her mother, Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike.

The Bandaranaike family, like others who had to give up their land under that law, was compensated by the state.

Discuss this story Published: Wed Feb 8 09:32:14 EST 2006

President Mahinda Rajapakse told his negotiators to ensure that promises in his election manifesto titled 'Mahinda Chinthana', or Mahinda philosophy, are followed in dealing with the rebels.

"Everyone should take action in accordance with the Mahinda Chinthana which was put forward before the people," state television quoted the President as saying while addressing a two-day workshop for his negotiators.

Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday ruled out discussing a political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict during talks in Geneva later this month and said only their faltering truce should be on the agenda.

But a politician at Rajapakse's meeting in Colombo yesterday said the President was keen for the truce deal to be revisited in a bid to strengthen it and halt violence. More... Published: Wed Feb 8 16:08:07 EST 2006

The latest victim is 26-year-old Manoharan alias Kuruvi, one of the numerous members of Karuna's faction now working in Qatar.

According to the Faction's political party spokesman Thooyavan, Kuruvi is in a critical condition in the Intensive Unit of Ahamed Hospital, (General Hospital) in Doha Qatar after he was hit on the head with a steel crowbar when he was fast asleep.

"After Col. Karuna dismantled his defense force, Kuruvi was one of the cadres that joined the labour force in Qatar," Thooyavan pointed out.

He is employed as a cleaner in the International Cleaning Company (ICC) in Qatar and was living in one of the two camps of the company located at Sanya 49, Doha, Qatar. It is estimated that over a thousand of Col. Karuna's cadres re-located themselves in Qatar after he dismantled his force. An intelligence squad from the LTTE paramilitary group was dispatched to Qatar to win back Col Karuna's cadres to return to ranks of the LTTE. Tiger's Intelligence chief of the paramilitary group in Batticaloa Keerthi is in command of this operation.

"The intelligence squad from the LTTE paramilitary group, headed by Mathan of Palugamam, met with the members of the Karuna group in the two ICC camps. Their mission was to persuade the members of the Karuna group to abandon Col. Karuna and return to Batticaloa to fight the final battle with the Sri Lanka Government with the LTTE para military group," Thooyavan claimed.

However, the Karuna group in Qatar is reported to have rejected the offers made Mathan. So having failed in his mission, Mathan returned to Sri Lanka to report the stiff resistance he faced from Col. Karuna's group to Keerthi. It was after this that Sukasan, another intelligence agent from Palugamam who is currently working in Qatar, launched his anti-Karuna campaign aggressively in the ICC camps. He is the official representative of LTTE paramilitary group working in the ICC camps.

"On the 3rd February, a group of intelligence cadres led by Sukasan entered the ICC camps and vandalized the photographs of Colonel Karuna which was displayed very prominently in both camps," Thooyavan, spokesman for Karuna's political party," TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal.

"Subsequently on 06 February when Kuruvi was in his camp room, fast asleep, agents of the LTTE paramilitary group, specially sent from Batticaloa entered Kuruvi's room stealthily, and dealt a serious blow with a steel crowbar on his head . The assailants slipped away," he said.

Kuruvi was admitted to the general hospital in Doha Qatar and his condition is still critical. Latest reports from Qatar states that the local police have arrested Sukasan for the alleged attempt on the life of Kuruvi and the investigations are continuing. According to reports from Batticaloa Kuruvi is a handicapped person from Sittandy. He is a member of TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal. He left for Qatar in the latter part of May 2004, after the military wing of the TMVP was dismantled by its leader V. Muralitharan alias Colonel Karuna.

Discuss this story Published: Wed Feb 8 02:33:05 EST 2006