EU says Tamil Tigers 'terrorists'

Tamils in Europe are a source of funds for the Tigers

The European Union has decided to add the Sri Lankan separatist group, the Tamil Tigers, to its list of banned terrorist organisations.

The decision taken by ministers in Brussels means Tamil Tiger assets in the EU's 25 states will be frozen.

Recent violence in Sri Lanka has destabilised a ceasefire signed four years ago with the government.

Washington earlier took similar action against the Tigers, saying it wanted to cut off their access to arms and money.

Correspondents say Europe's Tamil diaspora is a valuable source of funds for the Tigers.

The Tigers withdrew from peace talks aimed at ending Sri Lanka's civil war which saw more than 100 deaths in recent weeks.

An EU ban, they said recently, would only "exacerbate the conditions of war" and could deter them from further peace talks.

The ban was agreed soon after the group reportedly agreed to attend talks in Oslo next month on the security of peace monitors.

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BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union put Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers on its list of terrorist groups, despite a warning from the rebels that the move could force them back to war.

The EU ban, agreed in principle on May 18, was made official at a meeting of ministers from the 25-member bloc to discuss competition issues.

It will deprive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of some of the vital funds they collect from members of the Tamil diaspora in Europe.

As well as freezing rebel funds, the move, which came at the urging of the United States and the Sri Lankan government, also provides for special EU cooperation measures to combat the group.

The separatist ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1972. More than 200 people died last month despite a four-year truce between government forces and the rebels, brokered by Norway.

Sri Lanka had hoped a ban would force the rebels to the negotiating table, and the EU move comes just as the rebels have accepted an invitation to take part in talks in Norway next month.

An EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the LTTE had brought the ban on itself.

"If they had been serious at the negotiating table we could have thought about another way, we would have set up a virtuous circle, instead of this vicious circle that we're in at the moment," he said.

According to the pro-rebel Internet site, Nitharsanam.com, the Tigers will send representatives for a two-day meeting in Norway starting June 8 to discuss the role of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.

The safety of Scandinavian truce monitors will be high on the agenda.

Government sources have said that Colombo was not averse to the meeting in Norway, but had been waiting for a signal from the Tigers before announcing their intention to participate.

It is unclear what affect the EU ban will have on the talks.

In Sri Lanka, there was no immediate comment from the Tigers or the government over the ban.

However, in remarks published in the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website, the LTTE's political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan said an EU-wide ban could affect the work of Scandinavians monitoring a truce in Sri Lanka.

Three of the five Nordic countries constituting the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) are from EU member countries.

"The EU's ban will conflict with the objective functioning of monitors from EU countries, and will damage the trust and good will Tamil people had in the EU countries," Thamilselvan said.

For its part, the Colombo administration had said that it expected the ban to encourage the Tigers to return the negotiating table it left in April 2003.

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