text: Tamils demonstrate outside U.N. headquarters . GENEVA 1996-08-26 Thousands of Tamils demonstrated outside the United Nations ' European headquarters in Geneva on Monday to appeal for U.N. recognition of their fight for independence from Sri Lanka . The demonstrators , said by police to number 6,000 , also urged the release of Nadarajah Muralidaran , Swiss-based leader of the the Tamil Tiger guerrillas , who has been held in a Zurich jail since April on charges of extortion . The demonstrators delivered an appeal to the U.N. human rights centre demanding an immediate end to " state terrorism " against Tamils and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ) .