Sri Lanka's [Images] Supreme Court on Thursday suspended a contentious deal between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to disburse billions of dollars of foreign aid to tsunami survivors.

Chief Justice Sarath Silva said President Chandrika Kumaratunga could have an arrangement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to share aid, but several clauses in the agreement were against the constitution.

The interim order said the suspension would apply till the case was concluded.
 
Kumaratunga's coalition partner, the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, walked out of her government in June over the aid sharing deal and filed a petition against it in the country's highest court.

The ruling is a setback to peace broker Norway's efforts to re-open talks between the government and the LTTE. The aid deal was also arranged by Norway and signed in June after months of haggling.

According to the interim order, the establishment of the headquarters of Post Tsunami [Images] Operational Management Structure, or the joint mechanism, in Killinochchi, in the rebels' control, was illegal.

The court also ruled that the fund into which international donors were expected to pool their contributions was illegal. The next hearing was fixed for September 12.