The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) in their hardest-hitting statement so far, accused President Chandrika Kumar-atunga's government of trying to use a split in the rebel movement to weaken them.

"We are ready to face the war that the Sri Lankan state has decided thrust on us thus," LTTE's eastern political wing leader, E Kousalyan, was quoted as saying in the pro-rebel Tamilnet Website.

Kousalyan said state radio had given air time on Monday to broadcast an interview with breakaway leader V Muralitharan, better known as Karuna, who led a revolt against the LTTE leadership in March and went underground in April.

Karuna disbanded 5,000 to 6,000 fighters under his command. The Tigers have since accused military intelligence and police of collaborating with Karuna to wage a "proxy war" against the Tigers despite a Norwegian-brokered truce.

"The truth is out today beyond any doubt that the Sri Lankan state is providing him (Karuna) state facilities to wage a proxy war of black propaganda against the LTTE and to carry out terrorist attacks with the assistance Sri Lankan military intelligence to derail the ceasefire," Kousalyan said.

"The Sri Lankan state's aims are now very obvious to us. It is now openly exploiting Karuna in the hope of weakening the LTTE," Kousalyan said.

"This would make it plain to the Tamil people that the Sri Lankan state is not interested at all in taking forward the peace process, but is only bent on using the talks and the cease fire to wage a terrorist war on us in the baseless hope of weakening us militarily and politically," he said.

The LTTE statement came four days after a suicide bombing in Colombo, the first in the Sri Lankan capital since the ceasefire went into effect.

Tigers denied involvement, but many, including the United States, said the bombing attack had the hallmarks of the Tigers.

The Tigers said that alleged military and police backing a breakaway Karuna led to Wednesday's bombing in a high security zone in Colombo.

"We are suspecting that it is the granting of refuge to these groups and the permission given to them to act freely in Colombo that has paved the way for attack in Colombo," the LTTE said in a statement on Thursday. President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she would not allow the bombing at a police station opposite the US and British diplomatic missions to derail the Norwegian-backed peace process, which remains on hold since April last year.

Norway has been trying to revive talks between the Tigers and Kumaratunga's government which took office following parliamentary elections in April.