US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1127

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001127 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/ES, INR/MR, PA 
SA/INS (CAMP, DEAN) SA/PD (SCENSNY, ROGERS, STRYKER); 
SSA/PAS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KPAO, PTER, EAID, OIIP, PREL, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Special Media Reaction:  Predictable Coverage of 
Signing of the Joint Mechanism for Tsunami Relief and 
Reconstruction 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Sri Lankan media provided widespread 
prominent editorial coverage of the June 24 signing of the 
Joint Mechanism (Post-Tsunami Management Structure, P-TOMS) 
between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in high circulation Sunday 
edition newspapers on June 26, 2005.  Front-page coverage in 
independent newspapers was somewhat less prominent than 
might have been expected, but editorialists devoted 
significant commentary exclusively to the event.  Headline 
writers and editorialists took predictable stances in their 
commentary on the signing; Government owned media praised 
the agreement, while opposition-friendly independent 
newspapers questioned details and implementation of the 
accord, and Marxist/Sinhala nationalist newspapers took a 
decidedly pessimistic tone. End summary. 
 
2. (U) Government owned English and vernacular print press 
ran front-page banner headlines celebrating the June 24 
conclusion of the Joint Mechanism agreement after President 
Kumaratunga's long struggle to win support, while 
independent papers focused front page stories on political 
disputes arising from the Joint Mechanism and commented on 
the accord extensively in editorial sections.  Government 
owned Sunday Observer (circulation 100,000) led with, "World 
commends President," and "Mass support for P-TOMS." 
Editorials also predictably commended the signing of the 
Joint Mechanism.  The mainstream independent Sunday Times 
(circulation 150,000) was less celebratory; editorialists 
bannered, "P-TOMS: Treachery on Treasury," "The pitfalls of 
P-TOMS," and "A political tsunami," in which the editor 
contended through the Joint Mechanism the government "has 
yielded to the very propaganda of the LTTE that the GOSL 
[Government of Sri Lanka] represents the Sinhalese, and 
therefore the GOSL is a Sinhalese Government!"  Pro-JVP 
(former junior alliance partner Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) 
Sunday Island's (circulation 85,000) editorialists bannered, 
"Home and dry?" and "Joint Mechanism - all fiction and 
misplaced facts?"  One editorial expressed outrage the 
President had gone against the JVP, "who not so long ago was 
the President's lifesaver, bestowing government power on her 
party and cohorts." 
 
3.   (U) The Sunday Leader's World Affairs editorialist, 
Gamini Weerakoon, in an op-ed titled "American ambiguity 
towards the LTTE," wrote, "the fact that this [joint] 
mechanism... appears to be... for granting international 
recognition to the LTTE is being completely ignored by these 
nations committed to fight[ing] terrorism." 
 
4.  (U) The Tamil and Sinhala language press also afforded 
the signing of the Joint Mechanism broad coverage, often 
mirroring the stories of their English-language 
counterparts.  Government owned papers reported the 
agreement with the most prominence, and virtually all Tamil 
papers lauded the accord.  Government owned Tamil Sunday 
Thinakaran led with, "UNP [United National Party] lends hand 
for majoritarian chauvinist propaganda," criticizing Ranil 
Wickremesinghe's party's alleged statements of concern that 
the Sinhalese would be underrepresented by the Joint 
Mechanism.  Thinakaran's editorialist expressed similar 
sentiments in an editorial titled, "UNP repeats history." 
 
 
5.  (U) Television and radio broadcasts reported the signing 
of the Joint Mechanism in a relatively straightforward 
manner, with state-run stations expressing praise for the 
President's perseverance in signing the accord. 
 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment: Government owned media, which generally 
act as the President's mouthpiece, celebrated the signing of 
the Joint Mechanism or P-TOMS in front page headlines as 
well as editorials.  Predictably, the mainstream independent 
press expressed reservations and exploited the political 
fallout of the President's decision while the Sinhala 
nationalist press emphasized allegations of treachery and 
suspicion against the LTTE and the international community 
who allegedly "coerced" the President to sign the accord. 
End Comment. 
 
 
Lunstead