US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1635

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001635 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  09-19-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, CE, NO, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  In meeting with the Ambassador, Norwegian team 
appears optimistic that Tigers will return to talks 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1619, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.   (C) SUMMARY:  The Ambassador met late September 18 
with a visiting Norwegian facilitation team led by 
Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen.  The GoN team, 
which had just held meetings with the Tigers, expressed 
confidence that the group would submit its counter- 
proposals on the GSL's north/east interim setup proposal 
by mid-October.  Talks could then begin perhaps by 
November.  The Norwegians also had comments on such 
issues as the Tigers' unauthorized camp in the east, the 
assassinations of anti-LTTE Tamils, and Political Chief 
Thamilchelvam's role.  The Norwegians are clearly taking 
an upbeat view of their visit.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Meeting with Visiting Norwegian Team 
------------------------------------ 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador met late September 18 with 
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen, 
Special Envoy Erik Solheim, and Norwegian Ambassador 
Hans Brattskar.  Helgesen and Solheim are on a 
September 17-19 visit to Sri Lanka.  The Norwegians had 
just returned from meeting with Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political chief S.P. Thamilchelvam at 
LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi in the north-central 
Vanni region. 
 
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LTTE Still Developing its Counter-Proposals 
------------------------------------------- 
 
3.  (C) Helgesen said he thought the meeting had been 
quite constructive.  He expressed confidence that the 
Tigers would pass their counter-proposals to the GSL's 
July north/east interim administration proposal to the 
Norwegian facilitators by mid-October.  This timeframe 
had been moved backward by a couple of weeks because 
LTTE representatives were planning to participate in a 
seminar on legal issues to be held in Dublin in the next 
two weeks.  This seminar would be similar to one 
recently held in Paris, and would include participation 
by Tamil diaspora legal experts.  When queried, Helgesen 
commented that the GoN team had not received many 
indications from Thamilchelvam regarding the possible 
nature of the LTTE's counter-proposals.  Helgesen, 
however, believed that the proposals would not be 
"maximalist" in nature.  It was not clear whether or not 
the LTTE's counter-proposals would fall outside of the 
Sri Lankan constitution, he added.  Most important, 
however, be believed the Tigers would be willing to re- 
engage in direct talks with the GSL. 
 
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Talks by November? 
------------------ 
 
4.  (C) Asked by the Ambassador about the timeframe for 
re-commencement of GSL-LTTE talks, Ambassador Brattskar 
replied that talks could restart by mid-November. 
Solheim noted that there was no suggestion from the LTTE 
that it would insist that the GSL accept its counter- 
proposals before the Tigers would agree to return to the 
table.  Given the positive signs, Norway planned to 
begin general preparations for the talks, he noted.  The 
precise agenda had not been settled, but interim 
administration issues would form a major part of the 
discussions.  Brattskar remarked that he thought the 
LTTE would also be open to discussing issues related to 
the ground situation, including human rights (or "human 
security" as Helgesen referred to it), humanitarian aid 
to the north/east, and the Tigers' relationship with the 
Norwegian-run Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). 
Helgesen concurred, noting that he thought that the 
Tigers were looking to resume talks on a wide range of 
issues related to the peace process, and would not be 
focusing solely on the interim administration issue. 
 
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Other Subjects 
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5.  (C) The Norwegians also touched briefly on the 
following topics: 
 
-- Spate of Killings:  On the killings of anti-LTTE 
Tamils, Helgesen said the Tigers were not forthcoming 
with any new information.  He described the Tigers as 
clearly not having much flexibility in dealing with the 
issue.  Helgesen noted, however, that the LTTE had 
tentatively indicated that it was willing to begin a 
dialogue with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on 
the matter. 
 
-- Camp near Trincomalee:  Ambassador Brattskar noted 
that the Tigers had also not shown any flexibility 
regarding their unauthorized "Wan Ela" camp set up near 
Trincomalee.  That said, they continued to discuss the 
camp issue with the SLMM, most recently in a September 
15 meeting with the SLMM chief.  Brattskar further 
stated that the Tigers had expressed their surprise over 
the amount of attention the camp issue was receiving in 
the south. 
 
-- Muslim issues:  Regarding the treatment of Muslims in 
the east by the LTTE, the Tigers felt this issue should 
be dealt with by local LTTE commanders and local Muslim 
leaders.  The Tigers did not budge from their long- 
standing position that a separate Muslim delegation to 
possible talks would not be appropriate.  The Norwegians 
said they planned to continue to discuss the Muslim 
delegation issue with the group. 
 
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Thamilchelvam's Role 
-------------------- 
 
6.  (C) Queried about Thamilchelvam, Helgesen noted that 
the LTTE political chief seemed to be more comfortable 
with his newfound role as key liaison with the Norwegian 
facilitation effort and the rest of the international 
community.  He was "definitely in charge" and was 
speaking with more authority, Helgesen remarked. 
Thamilchelvam seemed to have considerable "internal" 
authority in LTTE circles, Solheim added, but his level 
of experience regarding legal and international issues 
still needed more "development."  In the meantime, Anton 
Balasingham, the LTTE's London-based spokesman, was not 
totally out of the loop, according to the feedback the 
Norwegian team had received.  Balasingham's health was 
reportedly getting worse, however. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C) Based on what the Norwegians described, the 
meeting seemed to have been relatively upbeat. 
Certainly, the fact that the Tigers are indicating that 
they are moving forward with developing written counter- 
proposals regarding what they want in the north/east 
(for the first time in the history of the conflict) and 
seem intent on restarting the talks are very positive 
signs.  It is also good news that the group seems 
willing to open up the talks to a multitude of topics 
beyond the interim administration matter.  If this is 
indeed the case, it would represent quite a climbdown 
for the Tigers who indicated when they left the talks in 
April that they wanted the peace process to focus on 
interim administration issues.  While all that is 
positive, the fact that the Tigers are still giving the 
wrong noises regarding the spate of killings and the 
camp in the east remains worrisome.  In light of the 
continued difficulties involved in dealing with the 
group, the Norwegians appear to recognize that the peace 
process could not by any stretch be said to be firmly 
back on track.  END COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD