US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1496

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001496 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR 
E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  08-27-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, ASEC, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Political Parties 
SUBJECT:  President Kumaratunga and supporters express 
concerns that the Tigers are targeting her for attack 
 
Refs:  (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 260902 Aug 03 
-      (B) Colombo 1492, and previous 
-      (C) USDAO Colombo CE IIR 6 816 0078 03 (Notal) 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Charge' 
d'Affaires. Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.   (C) SUMMARY:  President Kumaratunga and her 
supporters have recently expressed concerns that the 
Tamil Tigers are targeting her for attack.  The police 
have found little merit in the claims, which seem to 
involve more than a dollop of politics.  That said, the 
situation has to be monitored; the president has been 
attacked before and there is always a solid basis for 
anxiety about Tiger intentions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) KUMARATUNGA'S CONCERNS:  President Kumaratunga 
and her supporters have recently expressed concerns that 
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are 
targeting her for possible attack.  The claims by the 
president and her associates have been somewhat 
convoluted, and have included the following strands: 
 
-- In a recent letter filled with references to earlier 
exchanges on security issues, the president criticized 
the government and specifically the police for failing 
to properly monitor her security.  In the letter, which 
was leaked to the press, the president told T.E. 
Anandarajah, Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police 
(IGP), that she feared that LTTE cadre were watching her 
movements and might try to assassinate her.  The 
president specifically mentioned that the government had 
recently allowed Pulithevan, a high-level LTTE official, 
to stay at Colombo's Hilton Hotel.  She noted that this 
hotel was located in a high-rise near the presidential 
compound, thus providing the LTTE official with a 
possible view of her movements.  The president requested 
the IGP to look into the situation and report back to 
her.  She said she was deeply dissatisfied with an 
earlier police report into her concerns (see below). 
 
-- Janadasa Peiris, one of the president's spokesmen, 
was quoted as stating that the LTTE had possession "of 
the latest small weapons of the world" (NFI) and was 
planning to use them against the president. 
 
-- Harim Peiris, another one of her spokesmen, was also 
quoted as stating that the president was clearly on the 
LTTE's "hit list."  He went to blame the government for 
failing to adequately protect her from the LTTE. 
 
3.  (C) POLICE FIND LITTLE MERIT IN CLAIMS:  Based on 
what we are hearing, there appears to be little merit in 
the claims being made by the president and her 
associates.  V. Kanthasamy, a senior superintendent of 
police, told us August 27 that the police had conducted 
dozens of interviews and fully investigated the claim, 
and passed the results back to the president.  The 
police had found no evidence that the LTTE was plotting 
against her and had told her that in their report. 
Kanthasamy said LTTE officials have indeed stayed at the 
Hilton Hotel during the course of the peace process, but 
there was no evidence that these officials, including 
Pulithevan, wanted to attack the president.  Kanthasamy 
was not sure how the IGP would respond to the 
president's latest missive, but he said the matter 
remained under review. 
 
4.  (C) OBSERVERS SEE POLITICS:  Mission has also spoken 
to a number of observers who believe that the 
president's claims appear to be politically inspired as 
much as anything else.  Kethesh Loganathan, an analyst 
at the Center for Policy Alternatives, a well-regarded 
local think-tank, told poloff August 27 that, in making 
the claims regarding the LTTE, he thought the president 
was "grasping for attention."  As long as the peace 
process went forward, Kethesh said he did not think 
there was any imminent threat on her life.  He noted 
that the allegations regarding the Hilton were strange 
ones in that LTTE officials have been staying at 
Colombo's luxury hotels almost routinely since the 
advent of the peace process, often booked into them by 
the Norwegian facilitators, and there had never been any 
indication that they were plotting an attack.  Taranjit 
Sandhu, the polchief at the Indian High Commission, told 
polchief August 27 that he thought the president and her 
supporters were trying to "gain sympathy" through her 
claims and paint the GSL as being weak on the LTTE.  He 
noted that he had not heard of any recent threats by the 
LTTE against the president, though the group continues 
to criticize her and her party's more lukewarm 
positioning on the peace process. 
 
5.  (C/NF) COMMENT:  In spite of the concerns, the 
president does not seem to be a near-term target of the 
Tigers at this time, and -- despite cohabitation 
stresses -- we believe the GSL is fully committed to 
protecting the president.  The situation has to be 
closely monitored, however.  The president has been 
attacked by the LTTE before, losing an eye in a December 
1999 attack in Colombo, and there is always a solid 
basis for anxiety about Tiger intentions.  Moreover, as 
previously reported (see Ref C), LTTE cadre are freely 
allowed access to the south now due to the February 2002 
ceasefire accord, and they are believed to be involved 
in widespread surveillance of government buildings and 
leaders.  (Note:  See Ref B regarding LTTE surveillance 
and Amcit issues.)  END COMMENT. 
 
6.  Minimized considered. 
 
ENTWISTLE