By Ajith Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, Oct 7 (Reuters) -- A former Tamil Tiger rebel commander who allied with the government to win eastern Sri Lanka back from the separatist guerrillas in battles last year took his oath as a legislator on Tuesday.

The swearing-in of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitheran, better known by his nom de guerre of Col. Karuna Amman, caps a remarkable political rebirth for a man accused of rights abuses who also served time in a U.K. jail this year.

"Tamil people can now have the faith of solving their own problems through parliamentary democracy. We should forget the bitter past experiences and work to win the trust of the Tamils," Muralitheran told parliament after taking his oath.

Muralitheran's Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) party was created from Tigers loyal to him who split with the main group in 2004, and began launching hit-and-run attacks against their former comrades.

The TMVP became a critical partner to the government in winning back the parts of eastern Sri Lanka held by the Tigers, but rights groups say they are guilty of rights abuses, war crimes and of using child soldiers.

He was seated on the back benches on the government side, after spending more than a decade in the Indian Ocean island nation's jungles battling Sri Lanka's government as the eastern commander for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

He was arrested last year in Britain and pleaded guilty to carrying a false passport, for which he served six months before returning to Sri Lanka in July.

The LTTE since 1983 has waged a civil war to create a homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils, who have complained of marginalisation by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948. (Additional reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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