The country directors of the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and senior officers of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation were holding a series of meetings with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the World Bank said.

It said the talks with the LTTE's political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan were part of their "coordinated needs assessment for rebuilding the tsunami-affected parts of Sri Lanka".

"The team is expected to return Thursday evening or early Friday after a number of meetings with the rebels," a World Bank official told AFP.

The government has said that it needs about three billion dollars for rebuilding affected areas, including the guerrilla-held areas of the island's north-east.

The latest meeting with the lenders came a day after the Tigers accused the military of threatening volunteers in relief centres managed by a Tiger affiliate, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), in the island's east.

"On Monday the (police) Special Task Force entered a TRO camp in Ampara district and threatened the volunteers into handing over the key.