US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO794

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000794 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OFFICIAL INFORMAL 
 
FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  05/17/14 
TAGS: AMGT, CE, MV, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  OFFICIAL INFORMAL NUMBER 072 (05/17/04) 
 
 
Classified by DCM James F. Entwistle for reasons 1.5 (b) 
and (d). 
 
CONTENTS: A/S ROCCA VISIT 
-         AKASHI COMES TO TOWN 
-         AFSA AWARDS 
-         MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT 
-         TIGER-AFFILIATED GROUP RAISING FUNDS IN U.S.? 
-         MUSLIM LEADER COMES UNDER FIRE IN GSL PRESS 
 
A/S ROCCA VISIT 
--------------- 
 
1. (SBU)  Christina had a successful visit to Trincomalee 
over the weekend, meeting with a wide variety of people and 
visiting three AID/OTI projects.  Frontchannel reporting on 
the Sri Lanka portion of her trip will be on the wires 
Tuesday.  The Ambassador reports from Male' that the 
Maldives portion of the trip is proceeding well.  He returns 
to Colombo tonight (Monday). (DCM) 
 
AKASHI COMES TO TOWN 
-------------------- 
 
2. (C) Japanese envoy arrived in Colombo over the weekend 
and will be here until mid-week.  In a lunchtime discussion 
with donor representatives today, Akashi said his visit was 
entirely "fact-finding," to determine what can be done on 
the peace front in the wake of the parliamentary elections. 
He claimed to have no particular message for either the 
government or the LTTE.  He met on Sunday with Norwegian 
Ambassador Bratskaar and IFI representatives but, as of the 
lunchtime chat, had not met yet with the President, the 
Prime MInister, Foreign Minister or the opposition leader. 
He plans to go to Kilinocchi on Wednesday ("I assume I'll be 
received by Tamilchelvam.")  At Akashi's request, DCM gave a 
brief overview of FM Kadirgamar's trip to Washington and A/S 
Rocca's visit here.   Akashi specifically asked about 
Kadirgamar's ISGA-bashing at Brookings.  On that subject, 
donor reps at the lunch noted to Akashi the need for the 
government to speak with one voice on sensitive subjects 
like the basis for the next round of talks, as well as the 
need for the LTTE and the TNA to be challenged about 
election manipulation and fraud when they posit that the 
election results clearly show that the LTTE is now the sole 
representative of the Tamil people.  Akashi clearly was in 
listening mode; we'll seek to put together some frontchannel 
readout on his meetings later in the week (he is scheduled 
to call on the Ambassador on Wednesday).  (DCM) 
 
AFSA AWARDS 
----------- 
 
3. (U)  We would like to brag on our brilliant CLO, Tahmina 
Novak, who was just named as one of two runners-up for the 
M. Juanita Guess award for outstanding service as a 
community liaison officer (see State 108116).  (DCM) 
 
MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT 
---------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU)  We received a country clearance cable over the 
weekend for an initial MCC visit June 1-4. The timing fits 
nicely with our in-house deliberations with how to proceed. 
(DCM) 
 
TIGER-AFFILIATED GROUP RAISING FUNDS IN U.S.? 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Earlier in the year, Mission passed reports to 
Washington that a chapter of the LTTE-controlled Tamil 
Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) had sprung up in the 
U.S., based in Princeton, New Jersey and operating a 
website at www.trousa.org.  In a May 16 report, the pro- 
Tiger website "TamilNet" stated that the TRO and 
"Operation USA" (which is apparently a fundraising push 
by the TRO in the U.S.) had donated approximately USD 
100,000 worth of medical equipment in the north and east 
of Sri Lanka.  We just wanted to flag this matter for 
you.  (POL) 
 
MUSLIM LEADER COMES UNDER FIRE IN GSL PRESS 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6. (C) FYI.  Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader 
Rauf Hakeem has come under nasty fire in the government- 
controlled press recently.  An article on the front page 
of the May 17 English-language DAILY NEWS, quoting a 
report from the "Rupavahini" television network, alleges 
that Hakeem, who is married, engaged in an extramarital 
affair with the daughter of a former MP.  The article 
also claimed that Hakeem regularly drinks alcohol (a 
damaging allegation against a Muslim politician).  (The 
Hakeem allegation is part of the general smearing 
techniques used in the GSL-controlled press of late, 
including another front-page article today detailing 
purported UNP involvement in selling roofing materials 
meant for poor people.)  The Hakeem stories 
transparently seem to have been generated in retaliation 
for the lack of SLMC support for President Kumaratunga's 
United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) political 
grouping.  Meanwhile, the UPFA continues to work with 
the all-Buddhist monk Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party 
in an effort to gain that group's support ahead of the 
parliamentary session beginning on May 18, when the 
offices of Deputy Speaker and deputy Chairman of 
Committees will be voted on.  In other developments, the 
tea estate Tamil Ceylon Worker's Congress party has 
reportedly reconfirmed that it will not support the UPFA 
in Parliament.  (POL/PAO) 
 
LUNSTEAD