Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran on Thursday said his plan for an interim self-governing authority in Sri Lanka's north and east was not a move towards a separate state, but warned of secession if the government denies equal rights to the Tamils.

Delivering his annual Heroes Week address, Prabhakaran said his Interim Self-Governing Authority plan, unveiled last month, had been "misinterpreted as a project for a separate state."

"It is true that our proposal calls for substantial self-governing authority without which massive programmes for the resettlement and rehabilitation could not be undertaken," he said.

He said the peace plan put forward through Norwegian peace brokers could be a starting point for negotiations and was not a final settlement. However, he threatened secession if the government continued to deny the rights to the Tamil people.

"If the Sinhala chauvinistic ruling elite continue to deny the rights to our people and oppose reconciliation and if the conditions of oppression continue, we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state invoking the right to self-determination of our people.

"We urge the Sinhala political leadership not to create the objective conditions that would drive our people to seek this ultimate option," he warned. 

The LTTE leader condemned the power struggle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, saying it had seriously jeopardised the Oslo-sponsored peace bid. He also said that critical reviews were coming from the Indian media and from Indian political analysts. 

President Kumaratunga's move sacking three key ministers in Wickremesinghe's government four days after the LTTE had set out their plan had threatened the peace process, he added. 

"Whatever the reasons she attributes to her actions, it has now become a universal truth that she took this serious action as an immediate response to our draft proposals. As a consequence of her sudden intervention, Ranil's regime has become paralysed without power and the peace process severely endangered," he said.

The Tiger leader also blamed the premier for relying on foreign governments, notably the US, the European Union and Japan, for an "international safety net" in the event of the LTTE resuming its separatist struggle.

"This strategic ploy of Wickremesinghe's government allowed the space for the increased interest and intervention of several international governments in the peace initiative as well as in the negotiating process. Some countries have even stipulated parameters within which the Tamil national question has to be resolved," he said. "It is because of these  international interventions that the peace negotiations became more complex.

He said while LTTE was ready to resume peace talks it suspended in April, the political power struggle in Colombo was an impediment.