Interpol seeks arrest of Sri Lanka rebel navy chief

COLOMBO, Jan 31 (Reuters) Interpol today said it had issued an international arrest warrant for the leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels' naval wing.

Interpol has already issued arrest warrants for a string of senior Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in recent years, including the group's shadowy rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

But the Tiger leadership is out of reach of the law in their northern stronghold as they fight a new chapter in a two-decade civil war with the state, and police have no way of capturing them unless the stray outside it or are defeated militarily.

''It has been revealed that Sea Tiger leader Colonel Soosai planned attacks against Sri Lankan forces and civilians, so we have issued the world-wide warrant,'' an official at the Interpol office in Colombo said on condition of anonymity.

''He is a wanted person like Prabhakaran. Suppose he goes to any other country, they have authority to arrest him and send him back to Sri Lanka,'' the official added.

REUTERS SY MIR RAI1214