LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                10. June 1997

PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM                                           
                                                
GOVT CHEATS ON VANNI FOOD COMMITMENT
	Sri Lanka is only allowing enough dry food to cater to 5000 of
	Mullaitivu's internally displaced Tamil families. This arbitrary
	figure - decided by the ministry of rehabilitation - leaves many
	tens of thousands of refugees in Mullaitivu without food. The
	ministry's decision to supply to only 5000 families was taken
	even though the government agent for the district handed over a
	detailed list of all the area's displaced people. This means the
	ministry of rehabilitation was well aware of the full food
	requirement of Mullaitivu, yet chose to ignore it. In the
	meantime, the government has tried to hamper aid work as much as
	possible, by obstructing the smooth passage of food-lorries. It
	is becoming clear that the government was interested only in the
	propaganda value of declaring that it is "feeding the people of
	Vanni".
	
ARMY SHELLS JAFFNA
	Sri Lankan army camps at Palali and Thenmaradchy (Jaffna) have
	begun firing heavy artillery at civilian concentrations in other
	parts of the peninsula. The raids are conducted arbitrarily with
	shells fired haphazardly in all directions.
	
INNOCENT TAMIL NOT RELEASED
	A young Tamil man is still being held by Sri Lankan soldiers
	after he and five others were arbitrarily arrested in Nedunkerni
	soon after the army occupation of the town. The other five were
	released after being taken to Vavuniya and badly beaten up.
	Periathamby Kukathasan remains in custody as fears grow for his
	safety.
	
GOVT-BACKED TAMIL GROUPS WORSE THAN ARMY
	Government-sponsored Tamil groups - whose leaders illegitimately
	occupy places in Sri Lanka's parliament - are committing
	atrocities against Tamils worse, in some cases, than Sri Lanka's
	own brutal army. In Batticaloa Tamil civilians will testify to
	the fact that these terror-groups (EPDP, PLOTE, EPRLF etc...)
	carry on like criminal gangs and are regarded by the general
	population as the dregs of Tamil society. An ordinary Tamil man
	from Eravur - Santhiran - was last week shot dead by one of these
	groups and his body was tied to a motorcycle, whereupon he was
	dragged across the ground at high speed for the local population
	to see.
	
"DON'T HELP THE TAMILS" - MILITARY TELLS NGO
	A well-known foreign NGO has been ordered by military officials
	in Batticaloa not to help Tamil cultivators. The NGO, based in
	Paduvankarai, has been strictly warned not to step foot into the
	area again. Military officials have said the order came from the
	top levels of Sri Lanka's defence ministry.
	
TWO OCCUPYING SOLDIERS KILLED - JAFFNA
	LTTE forces intercepted an army patrol in occupied Jaffna last
	Thursday killing two Sri Lankan soldiers. The patrol was
	travelling from Kondavil junction to Irupalai. Soldiers
	retaliated by opening fire on Tamil passers-by, killing
	Kumarasamy Krishnakumar (40). The LTTE suffered no casualties.
	
EIGHT LTTE FIGHTERS DIE
	We pay tribute to the courage of eight LTTE members who died
	defending Tamil Eelam from the ongoing Sinhala invasion. The
	fighters died on Sunday in Pannikkai Neeravi, just north of
	Omanthai.

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 / Fax: 0181-470 8593)