LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                27. June 1997

PRESS RELEASE 
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM
                                           
EPDP-ARMY RIFT DEEPENS IN CORRUPT JAFFNA ADMINISTRATION
	An official military press release circulated to Jaffna
	newspapers says the EPDP armed gang helping the Sinhala forces
	should not be credited with the release of Tamil persons arrested
	by the army. The statement exposes deepening tensions between the
	EPDP and Sinhala army occupying Jaffna.
	
	The EPDP has long exploited its "connections" with the Sinhala
	military in order to extract money from relatives of Tamils who
	have been arrested. Releases are "obtained" in return for cash.
	Members of the EPDP gang initially make "visits" to parents of
	arrested people assuring them of being able to get their children
	released. These visits form part of an intricate racket in which
	the EPDP and army collaborates to generate money at the expense
	of grief-stricken families. The EPDP has now occupied Jaffna's
	famous Srithar cinema and turned it into their office where their
	corrupt activities are centred.
	
	The army - fearful that the "cash-for-releases" racket is
	gradually becoming exposed - has tried to officially conceal its
	ongoing relationship with the EPDP by issuing this press
	statement distancing itself from the activities of the group.
	
	The Sri Lankan government assures foreign governments that
	progress towards a civilian administration is taking place in
	army-occupied Jaffna. With a two-year ban on media this illusion
	is easy to sustain. What is being conveniently screened is a
	military regime rife with bribery, intimidation and corruption.
	
THREE TAMIL FARMERS DISAPPEAR AFTER ARREST
	Disappearances of Tamils at the hands of the Sinhala military
	continue to mount, with three Batticaloa farmers arrested earlier
	this month now gone "missing". They had gone on June 14th to the
	Welikahanthiya reservoir to make arrangements for the water
	supply when they were arrested by Sri Lanka's armed forces. All
	enquiries made to Sinhala authorities about the whereabouts of
	Kandah Sanmugam, Panda Thangavel and Kavaresapu Selvanayagam (all
	from Urukamam) have gone unanswered. It is naive to imagine that
	there will be an end to disappearances in the north/east while
	Sinhala military forces are ruling over exclusively
	Tamil-inhabited areas.


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)