S Lanka criticises monitors' exit

The rebels say EU member states can no longer be neutral

The Sri Lankan government has criticised the decision by Denmark and Finland to withdraw their ceasefire monitors from the state.

A spokesman reportedly said they would resist any moves to reconstitute the mission (SLMM) without being consulted.

The states' decision followed a demand by the Tamil Tigers that EU states quit the mission, after the EU listed the rebels as a terrorist group.

Recent violence, involving four days of air strikes, has threatened the truce.

Sri Lankan war planes have been bombing Tamil Tiger positions since Wednesday.

More than 700 people have been killed since the beginning of the year, with many civilians among the casualties.

'Unilateral move'

The rebels demanded the pull-out because they said individuals from EU member states could no longer be neutral in observing the four-year-old ceasefire.

The Tigers said the monitors should leave by 1 September - which Finland and Denmark have agreed to do.

Sweden - the only other EU state in the monitoring mission - said its teams would stay on for now.

Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Colombo had yet to be formally informed of the Danish and Finnish decision, but was "against any unilateral move".

"There is a ceasefire agreement and according to that any decision to change the SLMM must be done through consultations with all," he said, quoted by the Agence France Presse news agency.

The three EU states provide 40 of the 57 monitors on the team.

Norway and Iceland have said they cannot fill the gaps alone.