US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1013

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
PLEASE PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  06-17-14 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, CE, NO, IN, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Talks about Talks in Stasis while Norwegians 
Ponder Next Moves 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo 983, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  The LTTE showed no flexibility on 
negotiation issues during Norwegian Ambassador's June 16 
visit to Kilinochchi.  Both sides have rejected a 
Norwegian compromise formulation on the negotiating 
agenda.  The situation in the East is somewhat improved 
but remains troubled.  The LTTE has postponed its 
European meeting.  The Tigers told NGOs and UN agencies 
they want to coordinate assistance better.  Norwegians 
will hold discussions in India this week.  Norwegians 
will decide optimum time to resume their shuttle 
efforts.  END SUMMARY. 
 
No Progress for Norwegians in Kilinochchi 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar briefed 
fellow Co-Chair Ambassadors June 17 on his previous 
day's discussions with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 
Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi and on Norwegian peace 
efforts in general.  Brattskar said he had a 90 minute 
meeting with LTTE political leader S.P. Thamilchelvam. 
Briefing Thamilchelvam on the Brussels meeting, 
Brattskar told him that the Co-Chairs were afraid of 
drift in the peace process and were concerned about the 
situation in the East.  The positive side was that there 
was great interest in Sri Lanka at a high political 
level; the negative side was the impatience at lack of 
progress.  Thamilchelvam had spent considerable time 
discussing the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), which he 
claimed the Government was violating in the East by 
supporting Karuna's forces.  Thamilchelvam repeated the 
familiar LTTE plaint that the Tamil people have 
benefited from peace for the last two years but have 
gained little else. 
 
3.  (C) Brattskar said he responded that both sides were 
responsible for supporting the CFA.  Sri Lanka 
Monitoring Mission (SLMM) head Trond Furuhovde would 
travel to Kilinochchi next week for discussions on this 
issue with the LTTE.  (Brattskar commented that the 
situation in the East was better than a few weeks ago, 
but was still unstable.)  In the meantime, the LTTE had 
postponed its planned leadership trip to Geneva next 
week for meetings with Tamil expatriate legal experts. 
With no date yet set for talks, the LTTE saw no reason 
to hold the discussions at this time. 
 
4.  (C) Ambassador asked Brattskar where the back and 
forth on the talks stood, and described his own talk 
last Friday with President Kumaratunga and her 
description of the situation (see Reftel).  Brattskar 
said that both sides want Norway to continue its shuttle 
diplomacy, but that right now nothing is happening.  The 
LTTE's "seemingly inflexible position" of discussions 
only on its Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) 
proposal had not allowed them to accept a Norwegian 
proposal that the two sides sit down without any agenda 
at all.  At the request of both sides, the Norwegians 
had tried to come up with a proposal for an agenda 
bridging the positions of both sides, but neither had 
agreed to their suggestion.  At the moment, therefore, 
the peace talks were in stasis.  The Norwegians would 
need to decide when to come up with a new proposal. 
Brattskar noted that some people thought there would be 
no movement until after the July 10 Provincial Council 
elections.  (Comment:  We do not see a connection.)  At 
any rate, it was unlikely there could be any movement 
until President Kumaratunga returned from her private 
visit to the UK. 
5.  (C) Brattskar said that the deadlock came down to 
the same old issues:  lack of trust (especially by the 
LTTE), and a feeling by the LTTE that agreement to 
discuss final issues before an ISGA was agreed upon and 
implemented would mean there would never be an ISGA. 
 
LTTE Meets NGOs and UN Agencies 
------------------------------- 
 
6.  (C) The LTTE had invited major NGOs and UN agencies 
to Kilinochchi June 15 to meet with the Tiger's Planning 
and Development Secretariat (PDS).  According to 
participants in the meeting, the LTTE predictably asked 
for direct funding, and were predictably turned down. 
The Tigers described the PDS as a "focal point," not as 
a proposed implementation agency.  The Tigers wanted the 
NGOs to "coordinate" with the PDS -- the NGOs said 
coordination was fine as long as it did not mean 
control.  The Tigers said that they did not want any 
type of joint development work with the Central 
Government, but that they had no objection to projects 
being implemented through the North East Provincial 
Council, as is currently being done.  The repeated their 
opposition, however, to a revival of the North East 
Reconstruction Fund (NERF) or a "NERF-like" structure, 
which they see as a tactic to delay or permanently 
replace an ISGA. 
 
Norwegians to Delhi 
------------------- 
 
7.  (U) Brattskar himself is leaving afternoon of June 
17 to meet Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Helgesen in 
New Delhi for talks with the new Indian government. 
Brattskar said that reports in both Indian and Sri 
Lankan press that current High Commissioner to Sri Lanka 
Nirupam Sen would leave to become Perm Rep in New York, 
and that Sen would be replaced by MFA Additional 
Secretary for Administration Mrs. Nirupama Menon Rao 
 
SIPDIS 
were true. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
8.  (C) The Norwegians are clearly feeling a bit 
frustrated.  Brattskar expressed (unusually) some 
impatience with the LTTE and conceded that it was not 
unreasonable for the GSL to expect some give from the 
Tigers, who so far have not budged an inch from their 
position on the negotiating agenda.  The Norwegians seem 
to feel now that it is best to take a breather before 
getting back into the shuttle business.  In the 
meantime, Ambassador is planning an on-the-record 
session with major newspaper editors next week to push 
the message of Brussels:  all sides need to move on 
peace or risk losing donor attention and funding.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD