US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1190

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
PLEASE PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  07-19-14 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PGOV, CE, NO, Political Parties, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  PEACE PROCESS READ-OUT FROM NORWEGIAN 
AMBASSADOR 
 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY: Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar was 
blunt in telling the LTTE suicide bombings had to stop. 
The LTTE neither confirmed nor denied its 
responsibility.  The LTTE complained about alleged 
government support for Karuna.  President Kumaratunga 
told Brattskar she knew nothing about military support 
for Karuna, and that if it existed, it should stop. 
Peace Secretariat Head Dhanapala said President had 
given clear orders not to support Karuna. As the UPFA 
faces internal dissent on peace process policy, it makes 
an effort to reach out to the opposition--which is wary. 
END SUMMARY 
 
 
Norwegian in Kilinochchi 
----------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Ambassador met with Norwegian Ambassador Hans 
Brattskar on July 15 to discuss Brattskar 's visit to 
Kilinochchi on July 13 and meeting with President 
Kumaratunga on July 14.  Brattskar said the meeting with 
the LTTE leadership (Tamilchelvan, Kausalyan and Ramesh) 
was tough and business-like, but not unfriendly. 
Brattskar spent lots of time discussing the recent 
suicide bombing in Colombo.  He emphasized that this 
type of act was morally wrong, and noted the political 
context of a post-9/11 world and current Middle East 
developments. He also discussed the upsurge of political 
violence in the East. 
 
3.  (C) Tamilchelvan in response made several comments. 
He said that of the several statements on the suicide 
bombing issued by other countries--EU, Japan, Canada, 
US--only the US statement pointed to the LTTE as the 
perpetrator. Interestingly, Brattskar said, Tamilchelvan 
did not deny responsibility for the bombing, although he 
did not take responsibility, either. Tamilchelvan 
continued that "no one" makes statements about the 
terrorist events in the East, which he claimed are the 
result of cooperation between break-away LTTE leader 
Karuna and Sri Lankan Military Intelligence. (In fact, 
all of the statements referred to the violence in the 
East and called on both sides to take steps to end it.) 
He said that he understood the political connotation of 
suicide bombings, and would pass these views on to "the 
leadership," i.e., Prabhakaran. 
 
4.  (C) Brattskar said he would meet with new Sri Lankan 
Army Chief General Kottegoda shortly, and would tell him 
directly that the violence in the East needed to stop. 
Noting that word had just come in of the killing in a 
Batticaloa prison that day of a Karuna supporter, 
Brattskar said that academics and professionals were 
leaving the East because of threats from Karuna's 
people. 
 
President "Knew Nothing" About Support for Karuna 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
5.  (C) Brattskar said that in this meeting with 
President Kumaratunga, he had been "frank and blunt" 
about the situation in the East. Kumaratunga told him 
that she "knew nothing" about alleged military support 
for Karuna; if it had happened, she said, it should not 
continue. 
 
Movement on Agenda for Talks? 
----------------------------- 
 
6.  (C) Brattskar said that Norway is ready to present a 
new proposal on the agenda for the talks, but can only 
do that after things quiet down in the East. The 
President is interested in Norway doing so, but, 
Brattskar said, she needs to decide the timing. She has 
problems controlling her own coalition, and the radical 
Sinhalese JVP continues to make public statements which 
undermine her position on the peace talks. Brattskar 
said that the LTTE also complained about statements by 
Tamil leader and Minister in the current government 
Douglas Devananda.  The President said that Douglas was 
"in the government but not in the coalition." 
 
Helgessen to Visit 
----------------- 
 
7. (C) Brattskar concluded that Norwegian Deputy Foreign 
Minister Vidar Helgessen would come to Sri Lanka around 
July 25.  In the meantime, Brattskar said, he was 
concerned that the Cease Fire Agreement was "fraying 
around the edges." 
Dhanapala: President Gave Clear Orders 
-------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Ambassador met later on July 15 with Peace 
Secretariat Head Jayantha Dhanapala.  Concerning the 
 
SIPDIS 
situation in the East and allegations that the Sri 
Lankan military was assisting Karuna, he said that the 
President had given "clear orders" that this was not to 
happen.  Batticaloa in particular was always unsettled, 
he said.  At any rate, the government had to protect 
Karuna if he requested it. Dhanapala said that he would 
travel to Batti the next day to assess the situation on 
the ground. Regarding the suicide bombing, he said that 
the Government greatly appreciated the US statement (in 
contrast to the statements by Japan, the EU and Canada, 
which did not mention the LTTE.) 
 
Political Party Differences 
--------------------------- 
 
9.  (C) Dhanapala said the government was now waiting on 
the Norwegians on the agenda issue. Queried about the 
JVP's recent negative comments on the peace process, 
Dhanapala said that he had attended the governing UPFA 
coalition's meeting of party leaders to discuss the 
peace process on July 13. At that meeting, the JVP had 
maintained that its views on the issue as a party were 
distinct from its official position of the alliance. 
Dhanapala said that at this meeting the UPFA had decided 
to invite the other political parties to participate in 
the new "National Peace Council." In particular, they 
wanted the UNP to participate.  He noted also that 
Parliament would debate the Interim Self Governing 
Authority (ISGA) proposal when it reconvened the 
following week.  Ambassador said that attempts to gain 
UNP cooperation might have a greater chance of success 
if the UPFA ceased harassing UNP leaders as in the 
recent attempt to harass former Trade and Commerce 
Minister Karunanayake.  Dhanapala verbally shrugged as 
if to say: "That's politics." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
10.  (C) All protestations to the contrary, we believe 
that the Sri Lankan military was assisting Karuna and 
his followers. We cannot assess whether they are still 
doing so.  We discussed the proposed National Peace 
Council and the debate on the ISGA with several UNP 
leaders over the weekend, urging them to take a 
constructive approach.  They remain wary.  One version 
is that UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe will agree to 
participate in the NPC only after the entire UPFA 
government has made a clear and unified statement of its 
own position on the issues. That may be a while in 
coming. 
 
LUNSTEAD 
 
CONFIDENTIAL4 
 
SIPDIS 
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