US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO461

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000461 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, IZ, CE, External Relations 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  REQUEST FOR INFORMATION/ASSISTANCE 
REGARDING POSSIBLE KILLING OF SRI LANKAN NATIONAL IN IRAQ 
 
1.  This is an action request.  Please see Para 4. 
 
2.  On March 3 the Embassy received a letter from a Member of 
Parliament requesting assistance with the repatriation of 
remains of a Sri Lankan national believed to have been killed 
in Iraq on February 11.  According to the letter, Dewamullage 
Prasanna Rohan Perera, who was employed by a private company 
in Dammam, Saudi Arabia as a driver, was killed in Amzainda, 
Iraq as he was driving a truckload of materials to an 
unspecified location in Iraq.  Information provided to his 
next of kin by his co-workers and employer reportedly 
indicates that Perera's body is being held at an "American 
Base Hospital" in Baghdad.  The letter identified Mohamed 
Saeed Al Ajvi, P.O. Box 5827, Dammam 31432, Saudi Arabia, as 
Mr. Perera's employer. 
 
3.  Poloff contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 
determine what steps the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) may 
have taken to verify the report and/or repatriate Mr. 
Perera's remains.  Sitara Khan of the Consular Department 
reported that the GSL had requested its embassy in Kuwait to 
follow up on the matter.  According to Khan, the Sri Lankan 
embassy in Kuwait had heard the same reports of Perera's 
remains being in an American military hospital somewhere in 
Iraq but had been unable to obtain further details or to 
verify that information.  Instead, the embassy suggested the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs contact the U.S. Embassy in 
Colombo for help; Khan said her department had been awaiting 
further instructions before doing so. 
 
4.  As we understand it, the GSL has received no official 
notification from any source of Perera's death and is relying 
on the (sketchy) information provided by Perera's co-workers. 
 Action Request:  We would appreciate any information 
addressees might provide on this report so that we may 
respond to the MP and the Ministry.  In the event that 
Perera's remains are indeed at an American or Iraqi facility, 
please advise how the GSL may repatriate the remains to Sri 
Lanka. 
 
5.  Minimize considered. 
LUNSTEAD