The Sri Lankan Health Ministry said on Friday that it would withdraw health staff provided to war displaced civilians living in refugee camps in the north as the mandate of six months set for the mission has expired. W. M. D. Wanninayake, spokesman of the ministry said the cabinet approved health care at IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps for six months and it is the reason to withdraw the health staff. Wanninayake said medical equipment in the camps would be handed over to Northern Province Governor G. A. Chandrasiri to be used at the hospital in the IDP camps. Around 300,000 Tamil civilians were accommodated in scores of IDP camps in the northern Vavuniya district after Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated in May last year. The number of IDPs has been reduced to less than 100,000 with most of them having been resettled to their original places. The government earlier promised to resettle all the IDPs by end of January, but it would be further delayed, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Risath Bathiyutheen said. 