Sri Lanka ups security as rebels mourn top Tiger

By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military beefed up security in the capital Colombo on Saturday because of fears Tamil Tiger rebels mourning their political wing leader, slain in an air raid a day earlier, will retaliate.

The Tigers announced three days of mourning for S.P. Thamilselvan, the international face and main interlocutor of the separatist group, whose killing analysts say, is a major setback for hopes of resuming peace talks any time soon.

"We have to take extra precautions," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.

Reuters reporters saw security personnel erect snap checkpoints in Colombo, which is already bristling with green sandbag turrets and road blocks manned by heavily armed troops and police, as a new chapter in a two-decade civil war opens.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's brother, on Friday welcomed the death of Thamilselvan -- the most senior rebel killed in years -- and said the military would pick off the rest of the Tigers' leaders one by one.

Shadowy rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, who lives in hiding, issued a rare statement paying tribute to Thamilselvan, saying he loved him deeply like a younger brother.

"Despite the repeated and continuous calls from the international community to find a peaceful resolution to (the) Tamil national question, we have not seen any goodwill from the Sinhala nation," he said in an emailed statement.

"On the contrary, it is sending war-vultures that are dropping giant bombs. It has cruelly killed our peace dove," he added. "Strengthened by his nourishment we will continue to travel on our path towards the goal with renewed determination."