The EU said continued hostilities in Sri Lanka could compromise the peace talks due to take place in Switzerland later this month.

It expressed concern about what it called the increasing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and called for security guarantees for aid agency staff working in conflict zones.

Post mortem

Meanwhile, the authorities in Sri Lanka are to exhume the bodies of fifteen aid workers next week, to try to establish who killed them.

International observers will attend the post mortem.

The local staff of the Paris-based charity Action Against Hunger (Action Contre la Faim) were found massacred in their office in Muttur in north east Sri Lanka in August, after a battle between government forces and Tamil separatists.

The Norwegian mission which monitors Sri Lanka's ceasefire has blamed government troops for the killings.

The government has denied responsibility.