Norway, which failed to bring the two sides together for talks earlier this month, is expected to meet on Thursday with other truce observers to decide the future of the ceasefire monitoring mission.

The Tigers have thrown the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (slmm) into crisis by demanding the removal of monitors from European Union nations Finland, Denmark and Sweden after the eu branded the LTTE a terrorist group last month.

The slmm said it had been told by the Tigers that they would extend the one-month period they sought to remove European Union member state nationals from the mission. The Tigers now want the transition in three months while Norway wants six months to effect the recomposition of the slmm.