LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                16. July 1997

SPECIAL PRESS RELEASE 
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM
                                           
V. PRABAKARAN RELEASES SEVEN ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS

Seven people from Irakandy (Trincomalee) held in custody by the
LTTE have been released on humanitarian grounds on the orders of
Tamil Eelam's national leader, Mr. V. Prabakaran.

Those released are a priest - Moulavi Abdul Rahnman - and six
students, including Nauparniyaz, Nilamdeen, Niroz, Irshad and
Sarajkahan. They were handed over to ICRC's representative Mr.
Johan Paul by the LTTE's head of administration (political
sector) Mr. Thangan. Thirty-two more from the same village remain
in LTTE custody.

They are suspected of being agents of the Sri Lankan army and
were involved in an incident which took place on June 28, as
recounted below:

Some LTTE members met with an accident at sea and were forced to
swim many miles to shore. They finally reached Irakandy (in
Trincomalee) in an exhausted state and requested assistance from
the local people. Though the LTTE members carried no weapons of
defence and were not carrying cyanide capsules some of the
villagers there severely assaulted them and later handed over the
defenceless fighters to Sinhala armed forces, in whose custody
they remain.

The LTTE was compelled to arrest a number of villagers suspected
of these acts of gross inhumanity. We understand our fighters are
now undergoing horrendous forms of torture at the hands of the
Sinhala army. Indeed, their lives remain in grave danger. The
LTTE cannot reasonably tolerate such a situation and this is why
we continue to hold these suspected agents who were involved in
the assault and handing over of our fighters.

We assure concerned individuals and organisations that all those
detained are being treated humanely. We also stress that they are
not "hostages" but people held in custody.

However, we are willing to show leniency in this instance and to
release all those held if the freedom of our own fighters is
secured.

We appeal to Muslim political leaders to work earnestly towards
this end and to use all their influence to ensure the hasty
release of our fighters.

We further stress that the arrests of these mainly Muslim
villagers was not enacted on ethnic grounds. We have always
viewed Muslims as our brothers, and will continue to do so.
Indeed, Mr. Prabakaran's decision to release 7 suspects on
humanitarian grounds is a gesture of good-will intended to
promote and consolidate existing Tamil-Muslim amity.

However, the Irakandy incident still causes us deep pain and
sorrow. We not only condemn the assault upon our defenceless
fighters, we strongly urge everybody to ensure that no repetition
of such incidents occurs in the future. Our fighters put their
own dear lives on the line for the sake of national freedom and
we cannot allow them to be betrayed in this manner to the Sinhala
army.

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)