Sri Lanka's renegade Tiger rebels Monday gave up fighting and disbanded to avoid a bloodbath in the face of an onslaught by the main guerrilla group, the military and rebels said.

The fighting that lasted four days and cost the lives of at least 10 rebels and two civilians came to an abrupt halt when renegade leader, V. Muralitharan broke up his fighters, guerrillas among those sent home told AFP.

Top military officials in this eastern Sri Lankan district said Karuna had indicated that he was calling it quits as he was unable to meet the offensive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The fate of Muralitharan, better known by his nom de guerre Karuna, 37, was not immediately known and his aides could not be contacted on their mobile phones. A base where he usually met visiting journalists was abandoned Monday.

"Over 400 to 500 in the Meenakam base were asked to go home," a 16-year-old Tiger fighter identified as Arulmoli told AFP here after joining her parents. "We were the only ones left after the others fled."

She said the entire rebel base was disbanded but she was not aware of the whereabouts of Karuna, who was being pursued by the main rebel leadership.

Military sources here said Karuna's fighters could no longer engage the northern leadership of the LTTE as he had failed to secure any support from government forces who had remained neutral in the conflict.

"Karuna loyalists have begun selling off things like motorcycles they could get hold of from the abandoned bases. His command structure has collapsed. We don't know where he is," the source said on the basis of anonymity.

Military officials in the capital Colombo said they were closely watching the developments in the east where LTTE cadres were steadily moving into bases abandoned by Karuna loyalists.

Karuna led an unprecedented split in the LTTE on March 3 and accused his former boss, Velupillai Prabhakaran, 49, of preparing for war despite a ceasefire with government forces in force since February 2002.

Prabhakaran in turn vowed to get rid of Karuna who mounted the most serious challenge to his leadership. Prabhakaran is known to have put down any dissent with an iron fist and eliminated potential challengers to his position.

Karuna accused Prabhakaran of discriminating against Tamils here, known as Batticaloa Tamils, and favouring those from the northern districts called Jaffna Tamils. The bulk of the Tiger fighting force originally came Batticaloa.

By Monday morning, the LTTE had captured more territory. Military sources said the renegades had in most places melted away without offering resistance.

The pro-LTTE Tamilnet.com website reported earlier Monday that the vast Kokkadicholai area located across the main Batticaloa lagoon, which had been previously dominated by Karuna, fell to Tiger control Monday without a battle.

The factional war would have been welcomed by security forces here at any other time, but with a ceasefire in place they were worried about getting caught in the crossfire without the ability to defend themselves.

Military officials said they had called for reinforcements to patrol the A-11 highway, the main supply route for government troops in Batticaloa, 303 kilometres (190 miles) east of the capital Colombo as they feared rebels might try to cross army lines.

The main Tamil Tiger force mounted the initial onslaught from the northeastern port district of Trincomalee, just north of here, but another drive was launched from the opposite direction in Ampara at the weekend.

Diplomats said the fighting, the first since the rebels and government entered an uneasy truce in 2002, have dimmed prospects for reviving a Norway backed effort to end ethnic bloodshed that has killed 60,000 since 1972.

AFP