US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1555

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001555 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR DORMANDY 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Political Parties 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  FOREIGN MINISTER PROVIDES HIS 
ASSESSMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEACE PROCESS 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1526 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.  Reason 1.4(b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In a September 15 meeting with the 
Ambassador, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar provided his 
update on the peace process with the Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), stating that the group was creating 
barriers to resuming negotiations.  Kadirgamar added that he 
was appreciative of the international community's pressure on 
the Tigers and thought that it was beginning to have a small 
impact on them.  Kadirgamar said that the recently publicized 
support for the government by the Ceylon Workers 
Congress(CWC) gave the government its parliamentary majority 
and ensured the government's stability through the budget 
debate.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador met with Foreign Minister Lakshman 
Kadirgamar on September 15.  The Ambassador said when he saw 
Deputy Secretary Armitage in mid-August, he underscored 
President Kumaratunga's flexibility on the agenda for 
returning to talks, in the face of LTTE recalcitrance and 
continued killings of its opponents.  The Ambassador added 
that the Deputy Secretary remains deeply interested in Sri 
Lanka and the two had specifically discussed the text of the 
August 19 press statement released in Washington. 
 
3.  (C) The FM and Ambassador both agreed that part of the 
difficulty in getting the LTTE back to the peace talks was 
that the group did not respond to traditional incentives of 
financial or economic assistance, but did whatever was 
necessary to further its political goals.  Kadirgamar said he 
tried to explain that to Japanese officials during his recent 
trip to Tokyo and urged the Japanese to be patient with the 
GSL.  The international pressure was very useful and 
beginning to have a small effect on the LTTE, Kadirgamar 
said, adding that he appreciated the strong statements by 
Ambassador Black during his September 7-9 visit to Sri Lanka. 
 Echoing comments of many other government and non-government 
interlocutors, the Foreign Minister also thought that the 
LTTE's lack of control in the East was another significant 
reason in delaying its return to peace talks. 
 
4.  (C) Turning to local politics, Kadirgamar characterized 
the recently announced support for the government by the 
upcountry Tamil estate workers party, Ceylon Workers Congress 
(CWC), as a "majority on paper."  The Foreign Minister did 
add, however, that the government would likely no longer 
pursue the support of the nine-MPs party of Buddhist monks, 
the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU).  In his opinion, the "budget 
was safe," referring to the annual end-of-year debate on the 
government's fiscal agenda that is often very politicized. 
Kadirgamar indicated that the government was busy with 
preparing the budget, which would have its first reading in 
Parliament on November 19. 
 
5.  (C) As for the government's main coalition partner, the 
leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Kadirgamar told the 
Ambassador that the group was doing well, not complaining 
about "fundamental issues,"  except for the LTTE's Interim 
Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposal.  The Foreign 
Minister conceded, however, that the JVP had a pretty firm 
line against the Tigers' proposal.  He added that the Tigers 
were very aware of the JVP's negative stance and were 
continually using that rhetoric in their resistance to resume 
negotiations. 
 
6. (C) COMMENT:  The Foreign Minister offered his assessment 
of politics in Sri Lanka:  the President's government was 
doing fine, the JVP were coming along and the LTTE was still 
operating by its own rules.  He continued his praise for 
international, especially U.S., pressure on the Tigers but 
did not offer any new ideas for getting the group back to the 
peace table.  He seemed content to let LTTE's internal 
struggle in the East provide the excuse for lack of 
negotiations.  Kadirgamar, a major JVP supporter, may likely 
have this attitude because he recognizes that the government 
still has its own internal dissension on the agenda for talks 
with the LTTE and has not been successful in getting the JVP 
to toe the party line.  END COMMENT. 
LUNSTEAD