Ex-rebel joins Sri Lankan government

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, March 9 (UPI) -- A former leader of a splinter rebel group took a post in the Sri Lankan government Monday, officials said.

Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Col. Karuna Amman, has joined the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party and accepted a ministerial portfolio, Lanka Page reported. Muralitharan was parliamentarian of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, which split from the Tamil Tigers in 2004.

Muralitharan was sworn in Monday evening to the non-Cabinet position of minister of national integration and reconciliation before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees. Three-thousand of his supporters also joined the SLFP, Lanka Page said.

Muralitharan's inclusion in the government is seen in some quarters as a sign that Sri Lanka's democracy is maturing.

Meanwhile, fighting between government troops and the Tamil Tigers continued in the country's northeastern region Monday. More than 200 rebels have been reported killed since Friday.