The spokesman for the British High Commission in Colombo yesterday declined to comment on reports that Karuna Amman had arrived in the UK last week to visit his wife and two children who have been there for about a year.

Asked whether Karuna had been granted a UK visa by his mission, spokesman John Culley said they had strict guidelines about not commenting on whether an individual has applied for or been granted a visa.

Our London Correspondent, Sujeeva Nivunhella, quoting "a reliable source’’ (which he did not identify) said that Karuna had entered the UK on his own passport with a visit visa from the British High Commission in Colombo."

The UK has been sharply critical of Karuna in recent months with Dr. Kim Howells, the former Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for UK-Sri Lanka relations, making this clear in the House of Commons.

In March 2006, he said that "the activities of the so-called Karuna faction are a destabilizing factor in Eastern Sri Lanka" and that "their violence is no more acceptable and that of the LTTE."

In May 2007 he said in the Commons that the LTTE ``is not the only source of violence here’’ and that there were reports of government links to the Karuna faction.

"We believe his faction to be responsible for extra judicial killings, abductions, intimidations of displaced persons and child recruitment." He said adding that "Karuna’s record is appalling, and we will be watching very closely that he acts on his commitments to the UN to address the child recruitment issue."

"We will want clear evidence that he has delivered against his welcome promises," Howell said. "Karuna needs to go further and cease all actions of violence and intimidations against civilians."

``All this suggests that if Karuna is in fact in the UK, he would have slipped in,’’ an analyst said. ``If that is the case, the Brits would know about it by now regardless of whether he got a visa in Colombo or not.’’