US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1245

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001245 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, OTRA, OVIP, KSEP, CE, UNGA 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA WILL "CONSIDER US DEMARCHE" ON G-4 
FRAMEWORK RESOLUTION 
 
REF: A. STATE 132429 
 
     B. STATE 126870 
     C. COLOMBO 001198 
 
1. (SBU) Sumedha Ekanayake, the Foreign Ministry's Assistant 
Director of UN and Multilateral Affairs, told poloff in a 
July 14 phone conversation that the Government of Sri Lanka 
(GSL) will vote in favor of the G-4 Framework Resolution at 
the UN General Assembly.  However, the GSL will not 
co-sponsor the resolution. 
 
2. (SBU) The Ambassador spoke with Foreign Secretary 
Palihakkara July 18 to see if there was any chance of Sri 
Lanka's converting its "no" vote to an abstention. 
Palihakkara said he had received a similar demarche that 
morning from the "Coffee Club" group.  He said further that 
he understood a meeting between the G-4 Foreign Ministers and 
Africa Group to try to harmonize their positions had an 
"ambiguous" outcome.  Without African support, he noted, the 
G-4 Resolution cannot pass.  Palihakkara concluded that the 
GSL would "consider the US demarche" in formulating its final 
position. 
 
3. (SBU) Comment.  Eager to please Japan and India, Sri Lanka 
is, we believe, most likely to support the resolution, but an 
abstention is still a possibility. 
LUNSTEAD