US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO685

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000685 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:     DECL: 04-21-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, CE, External Relations 
SUBJECT:  Sri Lanka:  New foreign secretary named; 
More changes in MFA expected as new FM assumes reins 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo 669 
 
-      (B) USDAO Colombo Ce IIR 6 816 0066 04 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Sri Lanka has a new foreign secretary. 
H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, a career foreign service officer, 
was named to the position on April 20.  Former Fonsec 
Goonetilleke is slated to fill in as acting UN Permrep 
in New York and then go to Ottawa to be high 
commissioner.  While other personnel changes are said to 
be in the works at the MFA in the aftermath of the 
recent parliamentary election and change in government, 
they are not expected to be large-scale.  That said, new 
FM Kadirgamar, who was also FM from 1994-2001, is said 
to be intent on removing those in key MFA slots whom he 
considers to have been close to the former UNP 
government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) NEW FOREIGN SECRETARY:  On April 20, President 
Kumaratunga appointed H.M.G.S. Palihakkara to the post 
of foreign secretary, the highest career rank in Sri 
Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and second-in-charge 
of the ministry after Foreign Minister Kadirgamar. 
Before his new posting, Palihakkara had been deputy 
chief of the GSL's Peace Secretariat and also Ambassador 
to Thailand.  Bio-data on Palihakkara is provided in 
Para 7. 
 
3.  (C) FORMER FONSEC TO OTTAWA:  Palihakkhara's 
predecessor as foreign secretary, Ambassador Bernard 
Goonetilleke, is slated to become the next High 
Commissioner to Canada.  In an April 20 conversation, he 
told Ambassador Lunstead that, before assuming duties in 
Ottawa, he may also serve temporarily as Sri Lanka's UN 
Permrep in New York.  (Charles Mahendran, the former UN 
Permrep, is being forced out due to his close links with 
the former United National Party, "UNP," government.) 
Goonetilleke, who had only been foreign secretary since 
September 2003, stated that the foreign secretarial 
changeover from him to Palihakkara had been worked out 
long ago.  Goonetilleke told the Ambassador, however, 
that he had been set to continue on as Peace Secretariat 
chief after the foreign secretary changeover.  With the 
change in government, however, those plans had changed. 
(Goonetilleke was known to be quite close to the 
previous UNP government.)  Goonetilleke said he looked 
forward to Ottawa and noted that he had a son living in 
Canada. 
 
4.  (C) MORE CHANGES IN MFA EXPECTED:  Other changes in 
key MFA positions are also expected, including the 
following: 
 
-- Rosy Senanayake, High Commissioner to Malaysia, is 
expected to be recalled.  A former beauty queen, she is 
a political appointee with strong ties to the former UNP 
government.  President Kumaratunga is known to dislike 
her. 
 
-- V.K. Walsan, Ambassador to Sweden, is another UNP 
political appointee who is likely to be recalled. 
 
-- U.B. Wijekoon, Ambassador to Russia, is a political 
appointee from the previous government.  Mission has 
heard that he, too, will be recalled. 
-- Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera (ret'd), High Commissioner to 
Australia, is a UNP political appointee and we have 
heard that he may be recalled. 
 
-- Gen. Rohan de S. Daluwatte, Ambassador to Brazil, is 
also scheduled to return to Sri Lanka.  Mission had 
heard that Daluwatte could potentially become the next 
Defense Secretary, but Cyril Herath will continue to 
hold this position.  It is possible that Daluwatte could 
assume a different portfolio within the MOD (see Ref B). 
 
-- Dr. Piyasiri Wijesekera, Ambassador to Cuba, may be 
recalled.  Wijesekera is the brother of Mahinda 
Wijesekera, a former UNP minister and a fierce critic of 
President Kumaratunga's, and may suffer from that 
association. 
-- Faiz Mustapha, High Commissioner to the UK and a 
close associate of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf 
Hakeem, may also be recalled.  Although Mustapha is 
widely respected, he may be replaced given the fact that 
the UK slot is a prestigious one and the new government 
may want to dole it out to a supporter. 
 
5.  (C) Amid all of these possible changes at the MFA, 
Mission has heard of possible continuity at two major 
posts.  Devinda Subasinghe, Ambassador to the U.S., may 
be staying on in that position.  While a political 
appointee of the previous government's, Subasinghe has 
also maintained contacts with the President and her 
party.  Another current Sri Lankan envoy, Mangala 
Moonesinghe, High Commissioner to India, appears likely 
to stay in his position.  He is a former MP for the 
President's Sri Lanka Freedom Party and is said to have 
maintained close links with Kumaratunga. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT:  New Foreign Minister Lakshman 
Kadirgamar is said to be intent on removing those in key 
MFA slots whom he considers to have been close to the 
former UNP government.  Kadirgamar, who served 
previously as FM from 1994-2001, knows every nook and 
cranny of the MFA and will move quickly to take charge. 
Although Palihakkara has a good reputation, it is a 
shame that Goonetilleke is leaving as foreign secretary 
and as chief of the Peace Secretariat.  Mission found 
him easy to work with, candid, and quite efficient.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
7.  (SBU) BIO-DATA ON PALIHAKKARA:  H.M.G.S. 
Palihakkara, Sri Lanka's new Foreign Secretary, is 57. 
("Hewa Matara Gamage Siripala" Palihakkara goes by 
"Siri" for short.)  In addition to his MFA duties, 
Palihakkara may also become the next Director General of 
the GSL's Peace Secretariat -- the dual role that his 
predecessor, Bernard Goonetilleke, had.  Immediately 
prior to his appointment as foreign secretary, 
Palihakkara, a career officer, had served as deputy 
chief at the Peace Secretariat and as Ambassador to 
Thailand from 2001 to 2004.  In Bangkok, he was also 
accredited to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.  He has also 
served as Permrep at Sri Lanka's UN Mission in Geneva 
and as an officer at Sri Lanka's UN Mission in New York. 
Educated at the University of Ceylon in Peradeniya, 
Palihakkara also participated in a diplomatic training 
course in Australia and completed a UN Fellowship on 
Security and Disarmament.  A Sinhalese Buddhist from the 
southern town of Matara, he is married with one son.  In 
our dealings with him, we have found Palihakkara affable 
and articulate.  END BIO-DATA. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
 
LUNSTEAD