US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO458

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000458 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, PHUM, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  PRESIDENT ESTABLISHES COMMISSION TO 
INVESTIGATE RECENT SHOOTING OF LTTE CADRES 
 
REF: COLOMBO 312 
 
Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission.  1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Three female Liberation Tigers of Tamil 
Eelam (LTTE) cadres were shot and injured in the eastern town 
of Akkaraipatuu, south of Ampara, on February 28, 2005.  The 
police have a suspect in custody, allegedly a loyalist to 
breakaway eastern LTTE rebel Karuna.  As with previous 
attacks on their cadre, the rebel group claimed the 
Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is complicit in the shooting, a 
charge government officials deny.  In response to the 
incident and to defuse tensions surrounding alleged GSL 
involvement, President Kumaratunga appointed a commission to 
investigate the shooting.  Given the government's recent 
attempts to rebuild the relationship with the Tigers in the 
post-tsunami environment, the President's efforts are likely 
aimed at mollifying the rebel group to avoid jeopardizing 
progress on tsunami reconstruction cooperation.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) FEMALE CADRE ATTACKED:  Three female LTTE political 
officials were shot while riding in a local taxi near the 
eastern district of Ampara on February 28, 2005.  At the 
request of a doctor in Kalmunai, a city in Ampara district, 
and with LTTE agreement, two of the injured women were 
transported by air to a hospital in Colombo for better 
medical care.  Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) 
spokeswoman Helen Olafs-Dottir told poloff March 2 that the 
Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) Peace Secretariat had approved 
air transport, but that the fixed-wing craft only held two 
stretchers.  She anticipated that a request to airlift the 
third victim to Colombo for medical treatment would be 
forthcoming. 
 
3.  (C) Olafs-Dottir told poloff that police in the east had 
a male suspect in custody, someone the LTTE had also 
identified as the shooter.  "The police may have the right 
guy," Olafs-Dottir said.  Olafsdottir said the suspect fled 
to the Special Task Force (STF) guard post for refuge, but 
STF officials turned him over to the police.  The SLMM was 
conducting its own inquiry, she said, but despite the 
pressure on them to issue a ruling in the incident, they were 
dependent on the police for information and investigation. 
She thought that the STF was also now under pressure from the 
GSL to be more pro-active in pursuing paramilitary forces in 
the east.  Police spokesman Rienzie Perera confirmed that the 
police had detained one man in connection with the shooting, 
based on allegations of his involvement by the LTTE. 
 
4. (C) LTTE BLAMES GSL:  In response to the attack on its 
cadres, LTTE officials publicly alleged that the GSL was 
complicit in the February 28 shooting.  (Note:  The LTTE has 
struggled to regain control of the eastern province after its 
eastern commander, Karuna, broke from the rebel group in 
March 2004.  Since the break, the LTTE has consistently 
charged that cadres loyal to Karuna are being aided by the 
Sri Lanka military in attacks on LTTE officials.  End Note.) 
Joseph Pararajasingham, an MP with the pro-LTTE Tamil 
National Alliance (TNA) party, also told POL FSN that he 
believes the shooting could not have occurred without the 
knowledge of the Sri Lanka military.  According to 
Pararajasingham, the shooting of the women political cadres 
following the February 7 killing of LTTE eastern political 
leader Kausalyan (Ref A) is the government's tactic for 
obstructing the LTTE's entry into mainstream politics. 
 
5.  (C) Discounting LTTE reports of GSL involvement in the 
shooting, Sri Lanka Army spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake 
told poloff in a March 2 conversation that GSL security 
forces would not do such a "stupid thing" to imperil the 
GSL-LTTE ceasefire agreement.  He said the LTTE and Karuna 
loyalists continued to fight each other in both LTTE- and 
GSL-controlled areas in the east.  Since LTTE attempts to 
reclaim control in the east were not successful, the rebel 
group was now blaming the government for the violence in the 
province. 
 
6.  (C) PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE:  In response 
to the February 28 attack on the three women, Sri Lankan 
President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed a presidential 
commission to investigate the incident.  Presidential advisor 
Nigel Hatch told POL FSN on March 2 that two high court 
judges will chair the commission, the establishment of which 
is meant to assuage LTTE beliefs that the government was 
involved.  Hatch admitted to the President's concern about 
the current security environment in the east, adding that the 
GSL has little knowledge of the real situation on the ground. 
 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  The President's formation of a commission 
to investigate this latest incident of violence in the east 
sends a strong message that the GSL wants to keep avenues of 
communication open with the LTTE, especially as discussions 
continue on a tsunami coordination mechanism.  Less clear is 
whether the LTTE will accept the conclusions of the 
commission.  End Comment. 
 
LUNSTEAD