US embassy cable - 02COLOMBO1619

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001619 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD; LONDON 
FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09-04-12 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PREF, PHUM, ECON, EAID, CE, Human Rights, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Peace process update:  Tiger-Muslim talks said 
to be constructive; IDP returns up; Cricket in Jaffna 
 
Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 020552Z Jun 02 
 
-     (B) Colombo 1584 
-     (C) Colombo 1371 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Charge d'Affaires. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) This update of Sri Lanka's peace process reviews 
the following: 
 
-- Tamil Tiger spokesman and Muslim leader reportedly 
hold constructive meeting in London 
 
-- GSL official meets with Tigers on development-related 
issues 
 
-- Recent incident in Jaffna pits students against 
security forces 
 
-- In sign of confidence in peace process, returns of 
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) continue upward 
trend 
 
-- The flavor of the peace process:  Famous Sri Lankan 
cricket player gets warm welcome in Jaffna 
 
==================================== 
London Talks reportedly constructive 
==================================== 
 
2.  (C) The September 3 meeting between Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Anton Balasingham 
and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem was 
reportedly constructive.  The talks took place in London 
with Norway's facilitation.  Tomas Stangeland, polchief 
of the Norwegian Embassy, told us that based on what he 
had picked up the meeting was a cordial one.  He 
confirmed that the two sides had discussed the nature of 
Muslim representation at the face-to-face talks 
scheduled to kickoff on September 16 in Thailand.  The 
LTTE agreed that Hakeem could participate in the first 
round of talks on the GSL team and at subsequent rounds 
as leader of a separate Muslim team. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  With the London meeting seeming to 
have gone in a positive direction, LTTE-Muslim ties may 
be on an upswing.  The LTTE helped set a positive mood 
for the talks when it recently moved several hardline, 
anti-Muslim cadre out of their jobs in the east. 
Regarding the Muslim role in talks, it is still not 
clear how the Balasingham-Hakeem understanding will work 
out.  GSL contacts have been dubious about the notion of 
a separate Muslim role, worried that it will make the 
talks even more tangled and complex.  End Comment. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
GSL-LTTE meet on development-related issues 
------------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) In another important meeting involving the 
Tigers, Bradman Weerakoon, the secretary to the PM, met 
Thamil Chelvam, the LTTE's political chief, on 
September 1.  Jehan Perera, the head of a local think- 
tank, told us that he had heard that Weerakoon had used 
the meeting to probe the Tigers on what sort of 
humanitarian assistance they needed in the areas they 
control in the north and east.  The discussion 
reportedly focused on education and health, he remarked. 
 
5.  (SBU) According to press reports, Weerakoon, who 
holds the GSL portfolio for north and east relief 
issues, also visited a LTTE-run demining operation and 
promised the Tigers that the government would do what it 
could to assist the LTTE in this area.  (Note:  Demining 
in LTTE-controlled areas has been a hot topic of late: 
At an August 29 roundtable meeting hosted by the GSL for 
donors, J. Maheswaran, the head of the pro-LTTE Tamil 
Rehabilitation Organization -- "TRO," stressed that 
international financial assistance was needed for such 
demining.  TRO, however, wanted local groups -- such as 
itself -- to receive the funding and not international 
groups, which TRO felt would only waste it.  In his 
across-the-table response, the Ambassador underscored 
that international expertise was important and the 
international community would be more willing to fund 
demining if its experts remained involved.  FYI: 
Maheswaran was recently named a member of the LTTE's 
negotiating team for the Thailand talks.  End Note.) 
6.  (C) Comment:  Weerakoon's meeting with the LTTE 
seems to have provided a chance for both sides to do an 
initial scrub of issues that will be discussed at the 
face-to-face talks slated to begin later this month. 
Milinda Moragoda, a key GSL minister on peace process 
issues, has told us that this round of talks would 
largely focus on development-related issues.  Stangeland 
of the Norwegian Embassy also told us that the Weerakoon 
meeting was significant in that it was held without GoN 
facilitation.  This indicates growing trust between the 
two sides, he noted.  End Comment. 
 
------------------ 
Incident in Jaffna 
------------------ 
 
7.  (SBU)  A large group of Tamil grade school students 
tried to overrun an Army post in the town of Point Pedro 
in Jaffna on September 2.  Several people were 
reportedly lightly injured in scuffles before the police 
took control of the situation.  A number of bunkers and 
other military positions were also damaged.  The 
students were apparently protesting the lack of access 
by citizens to the Army-controlled site.  In reaction to 
the incident, the government has temporally closed two 
schools in the Point Pedro area.  The Sri Lanka 
Monitoring Mission continues to look into what took 
place, urging that both sides act with restraint. 
 
8.  (C) Comment:  Point Pedro is known to be full of 
LTTE supporters (it is near Tiger leader Prabhakaran's 
hometown) and sources believe that the LTTE instigated 
the incident.  The LTTE's apparent motivation was to 
pressure the government into moving out of military 
bases in the area.  The group has bitterly complained 
that military sites in the north and east are too 
extensive and should be dramatically reduced in size. 
End Comment. 
 
-------------------- 
IDP Returns Spike Up 
-------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) UNHCR reports that IDP returns have increased 
in the past several weeks.  According to its figures, 
127,000 IDPs have returned to sites in the north and 
east since the beginning of the year.  This is an 
increase in the July total of 103,000. (Note:  There are 
an estimated 700,000 IDPs left in Sri Lanka.) 
 
10.  (SBU) Comment:  The IDP returns are a solid sign of 
confidence in the peace process.  The UNHCR has noted, 
for example, that returns spiked right after the GSL and 
LTTE agreed to a date certain for face-to-face talks 
late last month.  End Comment. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Famous Cricket Player visits Jaffna 
----------------------------------- 
 
11.  (U) Muttiah Muralitharan, a world-class cricket 
player, and two other members of Sri Lanka's national 
team, visited Jaffna town on August 31.  Muralitharan 
and his teammates participated in a cricket match along 
with local players.  A huge crowd turned out for the 
match, mainly to see Muralitharan, one of the world's 
best bowlers.  LTTE cadre present for the occasion 
warmly welcomed Muralitharan, who as a Tamil who made it 
big is a folk hero of sorts in Jaffna. 
12.  (SBU) Comment:  Muralitharan's highly publicized 
visit was another example of the huge expansion in 
people-to-people ties between northern and southern Sri 
Lanka that has taken place during the ongoing ceasefire. 
The growth of such ties -- in addition to progress made 
on political, ceasefire-related issues -- has played a 
crucial role in buoying the public's confidence in the 
peace process.  (Note:  Other examples of these people- 
to-people ties include:  the "peace" train linking 
Colombo with sites to its north; reciprocal visits of 
students and business delegations; the opening of 
religious pilgrimage sites, etc.)   End Comment. 
 
13.  (U) Minimize considered. 
AMSELEM