Sri Lanka Releases 667 More Tamil Rebels

GALLE, Sri Lanka — The government Monday freed 667 more Tamils held as suspected terrorists, and the head of the Boosa prison camp said that 2,588 Tamils still being held there will be released soon under the terms established in a peace accord.

Another 500 Tamils are being held in the nearby Palewatte camp. On Saturday, 291 Tamils were freed from Boosa.

Sri Lanka says it has up to 5,000 Tamil prisoners throughout the country.

Many of the newly released prisoners complained of being tortured during their detention.

A peace agreement signed July 29 by President Junius R. Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was designed to end Sri Lanka’s bloody four-year-old civil war. Neighboring India guarantees the accord and has sent 6,000 troops to see that the provisions are carried out.

The release of Tamil suspects is expected to be completed by Aug. 18, the deadline for Tamil militants to surrender their weapons and the opening date for Parliament, which must consider approval of the peace accord.

The mostly Hindu Tamils comprise 18% of Sri Lanka’s 16 million population.