The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) told Norway and the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission at a meeting in the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi that saving the truce was the responsibility of the government.

"The ceasefire agreement is at grave risk and the Sri Lankan government has the responsibility to salvage it...," the LTTE's political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan said, renewing a call for increased security for their officials.

"We are not asking for the moon," he said. "We only request that the government sincerely implement clause 1.8 to put an end to the accelerating violence perpetrated by these groups, which alone can ensure a violence-free environment."

He was referring to calls for the government to disarm paramilitary groups whom the Tigers blame for attacks against their officials in the island's restive east.

Thamilselvan's meeting with truce monitors and a diplomat from the Norwegian embassy comes amid growing violence in the eastern province. The government said it was keen to maintain the truce despite what it called rebel provocation.

Meanwhile, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels lobbed a grenade at another tsunami relief centre in volatile eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, wounding three policemen guarding the facility, military officials said.

The attackers threw the grenade at the welfare centre at Akkaraip-attu, officials said. Three police guards were admitted to hospital but there were no casualties among civilians.