LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                15. June 1997

SPECIAL PRESS RELEASE
                                           
TAMILS LET OUT OF DETENTION CAMPS DUE TO TROOP SHORTAGE
        Sri Lankan military officials in Vavuniya who are facing a troop
        shortage are finally having to release tens of thousands of
        Tamils they detained in sub-human detention centres for nearly a
        year. Many of the Tamils - entirely innocent travellers stopped
        without reason - will be finally let out of the camps owing to
        the magnitude of the army's crisis, especially following the
        successful LTTE military strike on Thandikulam last week. Sri
        Lanka's need to involve a greater number of troops to attack the
        Tamil people of Vanni has meant that they no longer have the
        manpower to continue imprisoning the Vavuniya detainees.
        
        The Sri Lankan military, meanwhile, is preparing to branch out
        into Vanni areas in order to corner and attack the Tamil people
        there. The demolition of the Tamil homeland and its people is its
        main objective, not the military supply route to Jaffna.
        
        The government and its media will try to portray the release of
        the innocent Tamil travellers as a magnanimous gesture. It is
        worth remembering that the same government and the same media for
        nearly a year totally ignored the plight of these Tamils (until
        military considerations made it necessary to release them from
        detention) which is a worthwhile reminder of the cynicism of the
        Colombo establishment.
        
TAMILS STOPPED FROM LEAVING MANNAR ISLAND
        Tamil travellers wanting to leave army-held Mannar island are
        being kept from leaving by the Sri Lankan military. As a result,
        many men, women and children are languishing in camps which are
        over-crowded and rife with diseases, particularly malaria and
        diarrhoea. The Pesalai government hospital is meanwhile
        over-crowded and the facilities are not adequate to cope with the
        medical needs of the people.

	
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)