Sri Lanka rebels 'shoot dead 12'

The European Union has banned the Tamil Tiger rebels

The Sri Lankan army has accused Tamil Tiger rebels of shooting dead 12 construction workers in the island's restive eastern province.

An army spokesman said the rebels kidnapped 14 workers from the majority Sinhala community on Monday, killing all but two of them.

The rebels have denied any involvement in the incident.

The attack came as the European Union added the Tamil Tigers to its list of banned terrorist organisations.

All of them were executed with bullets fired to their heads Brig Prasad Samarasinghe Military spokesman

And in growing diplomatic pressure, Sri Lanka's main international donors have called on both sides to stop the violence or face losing international support.

At a meeting in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, the donors urged the Tigers to renounce terrorism and violence and restart peace talks.

They also asked the government to show that it would "address the legitimate grievances of the Tamils" and prevent paramilitary groups from carrying out acts of terrorism.

'Shot in the head'

The latest attack took place at a state-run project in Mhasenpura village near eastern Batticaloa province.

Two of the abducted workers managed to escape and reach the authorities who later discovered 12 bodies, military officials said.

International concern over the situation is growing

"All of them were executed with bullets fired to their heads," military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe told the Associated Press news agency.

A rebel official, Seevaratnam Puleedevan, told AP they had no "involvement in these killings".

On Monday, the European Union added the Tamil Tigers to its list of banned terrorist organisations.

The group is already banned by the United States, Britain, Canada and India.

On Monday the rebels agreed to attend talks in Oslo next month on the security of peace monitors.

But a rebel leader, SP Thamilselvan, stressed that the talks would be separate to peace talks with the government which began in February.

More than 100 people have died in recent violence in Sri Lanka, destabilising a ceasefire signed four years ago between the government and the rebels.