The international truce monitoring group in Sri Lanka has ruled an incident of firing at a Naval boat by the Tigers a ceasefire violation.

"We have ruled it a violation of the ceasefire and an act undermining the spirit of the agreement," Helen Olafsdottir, the spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), said Friday.

On Tuesday the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had fired at a Sri Lanka Navy patrol boat off the coast of Trincomalee in the eastern province. The firing had come in spite of the boat carrying the SLMM flag and a SLMM monitor on board.

The Army called it a serious violation of the on-going ceasefire and the SLMM has endorsed it with their ruling.

SLMM, a group of truce monitors drawn from Nordic countries, has been stationed in the troubled north and eastern provinces since February 2002 when the current ceasefire came into force.

They are observing the truce as part of Norway's facilitation process of the peace talks aimed at ending Sri Lanka's long drawn out separatist armed conflict.

Six rounds of talks were held before the process came to be stalled in April 2003.

Efforts by the Norwegians to revive the process has not been successful.