<b>Kalutara prison PTA detainees call off fast</b>

Leary Beekmeyer - Daily Mirror

Minister of Community Development and Deputy Minister of Irrigation and Water Management Periasamy Chandrasekeran yesterday, visited the fasting LTTE detainees at the Kalutara prison where the condition of seven inmates was said to be deterioting. The detainees agreed to call off their fast temporarily.

The detainees were at first adamant that they should continue with their fast as the authorities had taken no action to meet their demands. After three hours of discussion lasting from 3.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. the Minister explained the judicial process and its implications when considering such requests.

The fast unto death campaign launched by the Tamil detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act which began on July 19 continued into its sixth day yesterday. Sixty seven of them had been partcipating yesterday in the fast. The figures had incrased daily from 29 at the beginning.

Prison Officers informed the Minister that some of the hunger strikers had climbed on to the roof. The condition of seven of the detainees was bad. Minister P. Chandrasekeran who had just arrived from India assured the detainees that as soon as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe returned from the United States he would discuss the matter with him.

He gave an undertaking that he would take immediate action to meet their demands

Courtesy - Daily Mirror