US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1390

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001390 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2014 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, PGOV, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  SUMMERTIME SURGE IN LTTE ASSASSINATIONS 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 1086 
 
     B. COLOMBO 1132 
 
Classified By: CDA JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Over the past six weeks, suspected 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) assassins have killed 
29 political opponents, supporters of LTTE dissident leader 
Karuna, and putative government informants, primarily in the 
northeastern district of Batticaloa.  The six-week tally 
presents an alarming--and sobering--contrast to the more 
modest total of the first six months of the year, in which 
only five assassinations occurred.  Some interlocutors 
attribute the uptick in targeted killings to two possible 
causes:  the Tigers' desire to reassert control in the East 
after the abortive uprising in March by Karuna and/or a show 
of military strength to improve their bargaining position 
should talks resume.  Whatever its motivation, this 
disturbing trend shows no immediate sign of abating, raising 
fears that the Ceasefire Agreement will be further 
attenuated.  End summary. 
 
2.  (U) From July 9 to August 16, suspected Liberation Tigers 
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) assassins have targeted and killed 29 
civilians in 16 incidents in various parts of the country. 
Although the majority of the attacks have occurred in the 
northeastern district of Batticaloa, the former stronghold of 
breakaway LTTE Eastern military commander Karuna, and the 
adjoining eastern districts of Ampara and Trincomalee, LTTE 
opponents have also been targeted and killed in Colombo and 
one of its suburbs.  Victims have included Karuna supporters 
(18); members of the erstwhile paramilitary 
group-turned-quasi-legitimate Eelam People's Democratic 
Party, or EPDP (9); and suspected Sri Lanka Army informants 
(2).  One especially bold attack took place on August 16 when 
Tiger hitmen shot and killed Kandasamy Iyer Balandarajah, the 
EPDP's Media Secretary, as he was standing on a busy Colombo 
street at 8:00 a.m.  Although the Tigers, in typical fashion, 
have never avowed responsibility for the killings, there is 
little doubt--including among tacit LTTE supporters like the 
Tamil National Alliance--of the perpetrators' identity. The 
grim six-week body count represents the sharpest and most 
concentrated uptick in LTTE violence against civilians since 
the beginning of the ceasefire in 2002, and offers a stark 
and depressing contrast to the tally during the first six 
months of 2004 (5) or the combined total for all of 2003 
(36).  (Note:  There has been some tit-for-tat retaliation as 
well.  At least six LTTE cadres have been killed over the 
same six-week period.  End note.) 
 
3.  (SBU)  While the LTTE is widely assumed to have 
orchestrated the killings, there is less unanimity of opinion 
regarding the motivation behind the violent campaign. 
Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, a Jaffna MP from the 
LTTE-apologist Tamil National Alliance, predictably blamed 
the killings on the Tigers' frustration at the lack of 
progress toward resumed peace talks.  Because the Government 
of Sri Lanka (GSL) continues to delay serious consideration 
of the LTTE's proposal for an Interim Self-Governing 
Authority (ISGA), he charged, the Tigers have "decided to 
take matters into their own hands."  Iqbal Athas, the Defense 
Correspondent for the independent Sunday Times, offered a 
less benign (and less disingenuous) interpretation of the 
Tigers' thinking, suggesting that the killings were clearly 
intended to re-establish LTTE control in the East after 
Karuna's abortive uprising in March, to eliminate perceived 
enemies, and to intimidate and terrorize local Tamil 
populations.  Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive 
Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives ( a prominent 
local think tank), speculated that the "Tigers wanted to 
clean up on the ground (in order) to resume negotiations from 
a position of strength."  The spate of assassinations clearly 
demonstrates that the Tigers retain the ability to target and 
kill their quarry "at any time and in any place," he said, 
which the Tigers believe will exert sufficient pressure on 
the GSL to be more amenable to negotiations on LTTE terms. 
All of our interlocutors expect that, in the absence of 
talks, the assassinations will continue in the near term. 
 
4.  (C)  Comment:  In 2003 the USG recertified the LTTE's 
inclusion in the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list on the 
basis of 36 political killings (as well as ongoing child 
recruitment).  The Tigers have nearly reached that total in 
just the first eight months of 2004.  Apparently carefully 
calculated and meticulously coordinated, the assassinations 
are sending a chilling and unambiguous message to Tiger 
opponents that, Ceasefire Agreement notwithstanding, the LTTE 
will tolerate no challenge to its authority or its 
long-standing--if spurious--claim that it is the sole 
representative of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.  Moreover, 
by killing Karuna's followers and EPDP activists, the LTTE is 
clearly signaling that even GSL sympathy and support offer 
insufficient protection from Tiger assassins.  Although it 
remains difficult to assess the degree of Tiger responsivess 
to international pressure, the international community has an 
obvious and an important role to play in publicly condemning 
such violence.  The EU troika's August 16 press statement 
(which was issued the same day as the most recent killing) 
and the Department's August 19 release have put the Tigers on 
notice that this recent spate of violence and terror must 
end. 
ENTWISTLE