US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1897

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001897 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/22/2014 
TAGS: PTER, PINS, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: SPASM OF VIOLENCE IN NORTH AND EAST 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1856 
 
Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission.  1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary.  On the eve of the LTTE's emotional Hero's 
Day ceremonies November 26-27, violent incidents, including 
LTTE killings of an army soldier and informants in the east, 
grenade attacks on the LTTE's political offices in 
Batticaloa, and an LTTE-enforced strike in Jaffna, have 
created a tense atmosphere in the north and east.  The LTTE 
is taking advantage of its strength in Jaffna to put on a 
tougher show of Tiger power than usual this year, in the 
run-up to the annual celebration of Hero's Day.  Meanwhile, 
LTTE posturing in Batticaloa seems to be failing, as 
pro-Karuna support weakens the LTTE's base.  End Summary. 
 
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Jaffna Hartal Leading Up to Hero's Day 
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2. (C)  On November 19, according to media and other sources, 
two people were killed and one person was injured in a pistol 
attack in Velvitithurai, Jaffna District.  (Velvettithurai is 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai 
Prabhakaran's hometown.)  The victims had been playing soccer 
on the grounds where one of Jaffna's larger Hero's Day (the 
emotional November  26-27 LTTE commemoration of its "martyrs" 
who have died for the cause,) ceremonies is scheduled to take 
place.  In response to the incident, the LTTE called a 
hartal, or general strike, on the Jaffna Peninsula on 
November 20, closing shops and halting public transit.  The 
motive for the attack and the identities of the gunmen are 
unknown, but Jaffna sources speculated that the perpetrators 
were anti-LTTE Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) 
cadres--possibly with backing from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). 
S. Paramaeswaran, a journalist in Jaffna, told poloff that he 
believed the SLA was using the EPDP to upset harmony in 
Jaffna. 
 
3.  (U) An SLA press release disputed this version of events 
and asserted that the LTTE fired on the crowd to harm EPDP 
supporters watching the soccer match.  The SLA statement also 
noted that the LTTE was trying to provoke the SLA and disrupt 
normalcy in Jaffna.  According to other media reports, the 
injured man, who is an EPDP activist, was originally taken to 
Velvettithurai Hospital, but the SLA later moved him to the 
Palaly Military Hospital for his protection.  The pro-LTTE 
website TamilNet posted LTTE Jaffna Political Leader C. 
Ilamparithi's comments that the SLA should take 
responsibility for the killings because "this dastardly 
crime" took place in an area near SLA sentries and 
"mini-camps," and continued, "...the current peace environ is 
threatened by such killings." 
 
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Killings of SLA Informants Continue in East 
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4.  (C)  Deputy Inspector of Police for the Eastern Province 
Neville Wijesinghe told poloff November 22 that the LTTE is 
continuing to target intelligence operatives, as evidenced by 
killings in the east in the past week.  On November 18, near 
Batticaloa District, an SLA soldier attached to military 
intelligence was killed while riding his motorcycle, along 
with his passenger, a Tamil SLA informant.  On November 20, 
according to Wijesinghe, the LTTE killed a former LTTE 
cadre-turned SLA informant in Trincomalee District. 
 
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Batticaloa Still Disputed 
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5. (C)  An LTTE political worker was killed in Valaichenai, 
north of Batticaloa on November 17.  Pro-LTTE website 
TamilNet charged that paramilitary operatives working with 
the SLA were responsible.  In the early hours of November 21, 
LTTE political offices that were recently reopened in 
Batticaloa were attacked.  Wijesinghe told poloff that 
supporters of breakaway eastern LTTE leader Karuna were 
responsible for the attacks.  Police in Batticaloa conducted 
"cordon and search" operations November 22, after an SLA tip 
that there were weapons in the town.  Wijesinghe reported 
that pro-Karuna cadre do not want the LTTE to celebrate 
Hero's Day in Karuna-sympathetic Batticaloa, but will not 
able to do much more themselves to prevent LTTE activity. 
(Note: He did not think the LTTE killings of an SLA soldier 
and informants were related to Hero's Day celebrations and 
did not foresee further problems in Batticaloa.)  Other 
sources told poloff that decorations and preparation for 
Hero's Day in Batticaloa were significantly more understated 
than in previous years. 
 
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Trinco Prepares for Hero's Day 
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6. (C) In Trincomalee, meanwhile, sources told poloff that 
Hero's Day preparations were much more intense than in 
previous years.  Busloads of Tamils from around Trincomalee 
District are expected to arrive there to take part in the 
LTTE ceremonies.  Major General Asoka Jayawardhana, Governor 
of the Northern and Eastern Provinces, told poloff November 
22 that a scheduled November 26-17 conference of provincial 
governors would "not interfere" with the LTTE commemorations, 
nor would the Hero's Day activities interfere with the 
conference.  He noted that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission 
(SLMM) would be present at the conference, to be held at a 
hotel near Trincomalee Town. Other sources told poloff that 
the LTTE had pressured the hotel manager to cancel the event, 
but was unsuccessful.  Wijesinghe noted that he expects the 
major LTTE ceremonies to be in LTTE-controlled Sampur, across 
the harbor from Trincomalee town, and does not expect the 
LTTE's activities to disturb the governors' conference. 
Wijesinghe noted that the police and the SLMM will increase 
monitoring in Trincomalee, and that checkpoints on the main 
road to Trincomalee will be increased. 
 
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Comment 
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7.  (C)  Some interlocutors in the government and diplomatic 
community had hoped that the tough message the Tiger 
delegation heard during its recent European trip would be 
reflected in Prabhakaran's annual Hero's Day policy speech. 
If recent events in Jaffna and the east are any indication, 
it seems unlikely that the LTTE leader will adopt the more 
conciliatory tone hoped for.  While the LTTE typically uses 
the run-up to Hero's Day to reinforce public support, this 
year's violence--following so closely on Norwegian Foreign 
Minister Petersen's meeting with Prabhakaran (Reftel)-- flies 
in the face of international calls for LTTE flexibility and 
renunciation of violence.  While the truth about the November 
19 killings in Jaffna is still hazy, Tiger allegations of 
Army involvement are clearly meant to discredit the military 
and the Government in the Tiger heartland.  The LTTE is 
taking advantage of its strength in Jaffna to put on a 
tougher show of Tiger power than usual this year.  In more 
demographically diverse Trincomalee, meanwhile, LTTE efforts 
to mobilize a public show of support could provoke even 
greater friction between Muslims, Sinhalese and Tamils.  LTTE 
posturing in Batticaloa, on the other hand,  seems to be 
failing, as pro-Karuna support weakens the LTTE's base there. 
 
 
LUNSTEAD