LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                10. March 1997


PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

JAFFNA PENINSULA
'NO GATHERINGS WITHOUT MY APPROVAL' SAYS COL. VIJAYARATNE
        The military officer in charge of Vadamaradchy, Colonel
        Vijayaratne, has declared at a public meeting that the Sinhala
        army is here "by virtue of military conquest." He went on to warn
        all government employees in the district that they must keep the
        Sinhala lion-flag hoisted at all times in offices - especially on
        important days - and that proper respect should be paid to it.
        Local government appointees were then instructed not to
        participate in any public functions without obtaining written
        permission from him first. Not even school events are to take
        place without his presence, he said. Personal invitations should
        be made to him and events can only proceed after his arrival at
        the schools' premises. The military dictatorship in Jaffna is
        becoming increasingly harsh. But these disturbing facts will not
        be reported by the Sri Lankan media who are not allowed by the
        government to enter Jaffna. The government knows that should the
        reality of army rule in captured Tamil territory become known
        internationally, tolerance of its war strategy would wane.

MASS ROUND-UPS MORE FREQUENT
        Tamil villagers in densely-populated Vadamaradchy are being
        rounded up daily by Sinhala forces. Young and old are made to
        stand in the scorching sun sometimes for the whole day while
        soldiers ransack their homes. A masked man is then paraded in
        front of the gathered residents. By a nod of the head he may
        implicate any number of innocent people for arrest. It is a
        sinister ordeal that is enacted in full view of frightened young
        children. The tactic is intended to intimidate the Tamil
        population. Those taken away rarely return and relatives can on
        any day be seen hanging around army camps being offered the
        standard response from authorities that no such arrests exist on
        their records.

TAMIL COUNCIL WORKER 'DISAPPEARS'
        A council worker arrested by Sinhala soldiers last Tuesday in
        Vadamaradchy has gone missing. Thangarasa Suvarnaseelan from
        Nelliady north was settling down to dinner when Sri Lankan troops
        broke into his house, forced him into an army vehicle and drove
        him away. His wife and three children have been to the Nalliady
        army camp several times but officials claim he is not on their
        records. Thangarasa's colleagues have also made fruitless efforts
        to locate him.

MULLAITIVU
GIRL IN HOSPITAL FOLLOWING NAVY FIRE
        A 13 year old Tamil girl is in hospital with serious injuries
        after Sri Lankan navy gunboats yesterday fired indiscriminately
        at Mullaitivu coastal settlements. The gunboats - in a now
        routine procedure - raked coastal Tamil villages with cannon-fire
        sending people fleeing. The injured girl is Selvakulendran
        Thisanthini. Two others, Seliah Selvakulendran (37) and Vettivel
        Sathiskumar (17), are also fighting for their lives following
        this incident.

TRINCOMALLEE
3000 TAMILS INTERROGATED
        A staggering 3000 Tamils of all ages were herded together in
        Trincomallee under the orders of the Sri Lankan army and navy
        there. All were body-searched before being individually
        interrogated by the massive contingent of military personnel. All
        the body searches were carried out by male soldiers in what
        became a humiliating and degrading ordeal, especially for the
        women and young girls. The incident - which took place at the
        Vivekananda sports grounds in Urarmalai - lasted the entire day.

BATTICALOA
        NO VEHICLES ALLOWED INTO VALAICHCHENAI
        Military officials occupying the Tamil town of Valaichchenai have
        stopped all vehicles - except military ones - from entering.
        Traffic is now turned away about a mile outside the area causing
        huge inconvenience to the Tamil population.

BADULLA (SINHALA SOUTH)
ANOTHER INNOCENT TAMIL ARRESTED
        Police harassment of Tamils in the Sinhala South of Sri Lanka
        continues unabated with the arrest and detention of M.S.
        Velantham who was on his way to the Badulla courts on legitimate
        business. He was stopped as he reached the court premises. Police
        stated that as he was originally from Mannar (in the north) he
        can rightfully be arrested under the emergency regulations of the
        Prevention of Terrorism Act.



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)