COLOMBO (AFP) — The LTTE has continued to recruit child soldiers in violation of a Norwegian-brokered truce, the Scandinavian cease-fire monitoring team said Wednesday.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said out of 576 complaints against the Tamil Tiger, a total of 146 have so far been ruled as violations of the cease-fire agreement that went into effect on February 23.

"The most common violations of (the) LTTE are 55 cases of underage recruitment, 43 cases of abduction and 20 cases of harassment," the SLMM said in a report.

It said a total of 164 complaints have been made against the Sri Lankan government and its forces during the corresponding period, of which 28 have been ruled as violations.

Government forces were mainly accused of harassment, the SLMM said adding there had been complaints of occupation of private property by troops.

It said there had been an increase in the number of complaints and rulings of the SLMM because people had better access to truce monitors and rulings on a backlog of complaints made earlier.

"Nevertheless, it is clear that at this point in time the LTTE has to do better in adhering to the ceasefire agreement, considering the high number of complaints and violations concerning abductions and underage recruitment.

"This practice is not only a violation of the ceasefire agreement and international law, but is also hindering the restoration of normalcy in Sri Lanka, in otherwise peaceful times," the SLMM said.

It said the acting head of the SLMM, Hagrup Haukland, met with the LTTE political leadership which Wednesday rejected the violations and complaints as "wrongful allegations."

"It is clear that the LTTE is taking this issue very seriously. SLMM is confident that the LTTE will find a solution to this matter because they are very much committed to the cease-fire agreement and the peace process.

"Today, the LTTE promised SLMM their full co-operation and asked for details on all alleged abductions and underage recruitment cases. LTTE promised to do an internal investigation on these issues and take whatever action necessary," the SLMM quoted Haukland as saying.