US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO569

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: BAD PRESS:  LTTE KILLS SUSPECTED DISSIDENTS AFTER 
NEWS REPORTS CAMP LOCATION 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 0487 
     B. COLOMBO 0312 
 
Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
1.  (U) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants 
attacked a camp of anti-LTTE Karuna loyalists in 
Thivichchenei, Polonnaruwa District, in the early morning 
hours of March 21, killing at least two suspected Karuna 
cadres.  (Note:  The Sri Lanka Army claims that the two dead 
are LTTE cadres.)  A five-year-old girl was also reportedly 
wounded in the crossfire.  Polonnaruwa, which borders on the 
ever-volatile Batticaloa District that had once been a Karuna 
stronghold, has witnessed increased violence since the 
February 7 killing there of Kaushalyan, the LTTE's eastern 
poltical leader (Reftels).  Because Kaushalyan's killing 
occurred in government-controlled territory close to Sri 
Lanka Army installations, the LTTE has claimed Government 
complicity in the slaying. 
 
2.  (U)  The attack followed a report in the March 20 edition 
of the anti-Government Sunday Leader, which bore the banner 
headline "Karuna Camp in Government Controlled Area." 
According to the article, the camp, located in a Tamil 
village between two Sri Lanka Army checkpoints, has been in 
operation for seven months and is "an open secret" to local 
residents.  Although the villagers reportedly initially 
welcomed the sixty or so Karuna cadres, they have since begun 
to complain of harassment, including forced conscription of 
local youth.  After two young men from the village were 
executed by unknown assailants on March 14, the villagers 
reportedly held a protest against the camp, blocking the road 
with the coffins of the two youths. (Note:  According to 
press and human rights sources, the two young men were 
affiliated with the Karuna faction.  End note.)  The article 
noted that the Sri Lanka Army disavows any knowledge of 
Karuna camps in the vicinity. 
 
3.  (SBU)  The editor of a leading independent Tamil daily 
confirmed to poloff on March 21 that the presence of the 
Karuna camp had long been widely known, including to the 
LTTE.  He speculated that the publicity surrounding the camp 
had embarrassed the LTTE and prompted the attack. 
 
4.  (U) The attack on the camp is only the latest development 
in ongoing tit-for-tat post-tsunami violence in Batticaloa 
and its surrounding area.   Since the killings reported 
reftels, the depressing litany continues: 
 
--March 7: one Karuna cadre killed in Eravur, 14 km north of 
Batticaloa; 
 
--March 8: former member of anti-LTTE paramilitary group 
People's Liberation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) killed in 
Batticaloa town (in front of police headquarters) by 
suspected LTTE; 
 
--March 14: two suspected Karuna cadres killed in Polonnaruwa 
(bordering Batticaloa); 
 
--March 14: grenade attack on LTTE office in Batticaloa; no 
injuries; 
 
--March 15: one Karuna cadre killed 27 km south of Batticaloa 
by suspected LTTE; 
 
--March 17: one Karuna cadre killed in Polonnaruwa (bordering 
Batticaloa); 
 
--March 18: one PLOTE cadre shot and injured in Batticaloa 
town. 
 
5.  (SBU) A Sri Lanka Army contact in at the Army camp in 
Welikanda, Polonnaruwa told POL FSN that the Army had 
observed about 30 LTTE cadres loitering in the area since 
March 18.  (He did not, however, confirm the existence of the 
Karuna camp.)  He acknowledged hearing gun shots in the 
vicinity early in the morning of March 21 but did not report 
that the Army ventured out to investigate.  He identified the 
site of the attack as 13 km from the Welikanda Camp. 
 
6.  (C)  Comment:  Unlike embattled Batticaloa, there are no 
"uncleared" or LTTE-controlled areas in Polonnaruwa District. 
 Many interlocutors have speculated that the LTTE's campaign 
against the remnants of Karuna's cadres in Batticaloa have 
pushed the dissidents, who mark the one-year anniversary of 
their break with LTTE headquarters this month, out to the 
comparative safety of government-controlled territory in 
Polonnaruwa.  It is hard to believe that a 60-cadre strong 
Karuna camp could exist in government-controlled territory, 
13 km away from an army camp, without the Sri Lanka Army's 
knowledge, if not support.  On the other hand, it is also 
hard to believe that if the mainstream press knew about this 
camp, that the LTTE did not.  Why the LTTE tolerated its 
existence until the press report apparently forced the issue 
is only the latest confused chapter in the seemingly endless 
chronicle of violence and intrigue that has beset the east 
for the past year. 
LUNSTEAD