Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday backed an Amnesty International campaign to shame Sri Lanka's government during the cricket World Cup and said it should be extended to a full sporting boycott of the island.

The London-based rights watchdog has been asking Sri Lanka to improve its rights record and has urged thousands of fans in the Caribbean to sign special white cricket balls marked "play by the rules."

Amnesty says the Colombo government, the Tamil Tiger guerrillas and other armed groups must commit themselves to allowing independent human rights monitors to oversee the island's long-running ethnic conflict.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) said the Amnesty campaign would raise international awareness among the majority Sinhalese population about "the brutality of their government against the Tamil population."

The Tigers have been fighting for a separate state for the Tamil minority in a bloody war that has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972.

"The apartheid South African regime was brought to its knees by using sports to raise political awareness among the white South Africans," Tiger spokeswoman Selvy Navaruban told AFP.

"I hope in a similar fashion the campaign started by Amnesty International will evolve into an international sports boycott against the Sri Lankan cricket team," she said.

However, Amnesty said the campaign was not aimed at the Sri Lankan cricket team, though the government and Sri Lanka Cricket, the sport's governing body, have already lodged a protest with the International Cricket Council.

Last week, the influential Free Media Movement (FMM), which consists of journalists and rights activists, said Amnesty's use of the tournament could anger moderates and help the government take a more hardline stance.

"To mix sports in general, and cricket in particular, with human rights advocacy, is a gross error and strategic blunder in a Sri Lankan context," the FMM said.

Cricket is hugely popular in Sri Lanka and cuts through political and ethnic lines.

"Amnesty International's actions at the Cricket World Cup, for the best of intent, may well result in the worst of outcomes for human rights activists in Sri Lanka," the FMM said.

However, the guerrillas thought otherwise.

"Anyone who thinks cricket can be used to gloss over their government's brutality is utterly ignorant," Navaruban said.

Rights activists have said that more than 750 people have disappeared in the island in the past year as government troops battle Tamil Tiger rebels.

In recent months, bodies have been found of people shot dead "execution-style" and dumped in swamps and roadsides.

Sri Lanka are due to host a high-profile cricket series against England later this year.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)