LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                09. July 1997

PRESS RELEASE 
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM
                                           
LTTE CONTACTS ICRC TO HAND OVER NORTH KOREAN CREW
	The LTTE has contacted local ICRC officials to hand over 37 North
	Korean crewmen being held in LTTE custody. The Sri Lankan-hired
	"MV Moranghong" was sailing within Tamil Eelam's territorial
	waters on Monday on its way back to Colombo from Kankesanthurai
	harbour (Jaffna peninsula) when it was stopped by the LTTE's
	naval forces at around 7pm. The ship ignored orders to stop and
	one crewman was killed in the process of bringing the ship under
	control. The other 37 are safe and well. Arrangements have been
	made with the ICRC to hand over the 37 crewmen as well as the
	body of the sailor who died. Sri Lankan military hardware is
	known to be carried along the sea-route on which the Sri
	Lankan-hired vessel was stopped. Such weapons and equipment is
	used to harm and repress Tamil people living in the north/east.
	
TRO CAN SUPPLY ONE WEEK'S FOOD TO STARVING TAMILS
	The Tamils' Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) functioning in
	Vanni has secured the supply of one week's food to the starving
	of Puthukudiyiruppu and Mallavi, where massive demonstrations
	have been held protesting the government's food-blockade to the
	region. The TRO says it can provide one meal a day to men, women
	and children here for the next week only (up to 15th July). The
	Sri Lankan government meanwhile appears deaf to the appeals made
	by thousands of civilians, many local NGOs and international NGOs
	who have asked it to permit fully the flow of food to Tamils in
	Vanni.
	
INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT DENIED TO HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
	Sri Lanka's president Chandrika Kumaratunga is still refusing to
	meet a human rights group which represents the parents of 700
	Tamil youth 'disappeared' by Sinhala forces in Jaffna over the
	past two years. Refusal to discuss what is self-evidently an
	urgent problem clearly exposes the Sinhala president's lack of
	feeling towards innocent relatives of missing Tamil children. The
	Society for the Disappeared says its efforts to initiate a
	dialogue with the Sinhala military authorities in Jaffna were
	futile and attempts to talk to the government's representative in
	Jaffna have met with insulting evasiveness. The entire Sinhala
	hierarchy is trying to slip out of its responsibility for these
	crimes, which are continuing unabated in the Jaffna peninsula,
	confirming (to those who still doubt it) that Tamils in Sri Lanka
	cannot expect even recognition of their grievances, let alone
	justice.
	
4  SRI LANKAN SOLDIERS KILLED
	More than four Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and more injured
	at an army checkpoint in Sinnapoovarasankulam (Vavuniya district)
	during an exchange of gunfire with LTTE forces. Four LTTE
	fighters also died.
	
Political Committee,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
	
(English translation of the LTTE statement released by LTTE
International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU,
United Kingdom.  Tel:0181- 503 4294)