US embassy cable - 02COLOMBO1982

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001982 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  10-23-12 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, CE, NO, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Peace Process Update:  Norwegian envoy visits; 
LTTE official meets leaders; Epicenter of Muslim anger 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1975, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by W. Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) This update of Sri Lanka's peace process reviews 
the following: 
 
-- Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister visits north and 
south in run-up to second round of talks 
 
-- Senior Tiger negotiator Balasingham continues 
consultations with leadership 
 
-- New poll highlights strong support for peace process, 
as well as ethnic divisions 
 
-- The Flavor of the Peace Process:  Akkaraipattu, the 
epicenter of the Muslim meltdown in the east 
 
====================== 
Norwegian Envoy Visits 
====================== 
 
2.  (SBU) Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar 
Helgesen is now in Sri Lanka for an October 20-24 visit. 
During the trip, Helgesen, the chief of the Norwegian 
peace facilitation effort, will be making stops 
throughout the island, including Colombo for meetings 
with GSL officials and the Wanni region in the north for 
meetings with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE).  In a first during one of his periodic visits, 
Helgesen also visited Sri Lanka's deep south.  In 
visiting the southern district of Hambantota on October 
20, Helgesen called attention to Norway's long-term 
interest in development of the south.  Before proceeding 
to the Wanni region to meet LTTE leader Prabhakaran and 
senior negotiator Balasingham (see below), Helgesen also 
stopped in Jaffna on October 22. 
 
3.  (C) In making the visit, Norwegian Embassy political 
officer Tomas Stangeland told us that Helgesen has three 
major objectives:  (1) To set up an agenda for the 
second round of peace talks slated to take place in 
Thailand from October 31 - November 3; (2) To make 
progress in forming a GSL-LTTE "Joint Task Force" on 
humanitarian issues; and (3) To cement plans for a 
conference of donors that will be held in Oslo in late 
November.  Helgesen also planned to discuss the ongoing 
LTTE-Muslim tensions in the east. 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT:  As reviewed by Stangeland, Helgesen's 
agenda is quite an ambitious one, with the Norwegians 
having to accomplish a lot in very little time.  The 
idea of sending Helgesen to southern Sri Lanka was a 
solid one and garnered him good press.  Amid the 
discussion about assisting the war-torn north and east, 
many Sinhalese want to make sure that the underdeveloped 
south is not forgotten and Helgesen effectively made 
that point.  (Note:  Not everyone was impressed; a group 
of demonstrators from the anti-peace process Janantha 
Vimukthi Peramuna came out to protest against Helgesen 
during the Hambantota stop.)  (Note:  We have heard that 
Helgesen is annoyed that President Kumaratunga could not 
meet him because of a "busy schedule.")  END COMMENT. 
 
======================================= 
Senior Tiger Official Meets his Leaders 
======================================= 
 
5.  (C) Since arriving in Sri Lanka on October 15 (see 
Reftels), the LTTE's London-based senior negotiator 
Anton Balasingham has reportedly been engaged in 
numerous meetings with his leadership.  Tamil contacts 
have told us that Balasingham has held long meetings 
with LTTE leader Prabhakaran and political chief Thamil 
Chelvan about the peace process.  (Note:  Thamil Chelvan 
is reportedly planning to participate in the next round 
of talks.)  The press has also reported that Balasingham 
has met with LTTE "Sea Tiger" commander Soosai and other 
military wing officials, including Colonel Banu.  There 
is no indication whether Balasingham has met with LTTE 
leaders from the east, such as Paduman from the 
Trincomalee area, and Karuna from the Batticaloa/Ampara 
area.  Balasingham's wife, Adele, an Australian national 
who is a member of the LTTE, has also been engaged in 
meetings focused on women's issues. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT.  Little is known about the LTTE's inner 
dynamics, but Balasingham is considered by most 
observers to be more in favor of the peace process than 
some others in the group.  Apropos of this point, most 
of Balasingham's meetings seem to have been held in the 
town of Mullaitivu where much of the military leadership 
is believed to spend time, as opposed to Kilinochchi, 
the nominal headquarters of the LTTE.  This may indicate 
that he is lobbying military officials, some of whom are 
reportedly very concerned about the direction of the 
peace process.  It would be positive if he also met 
members of the eastern leadership, as it is from that 
area where many problems arise, especially with Muslims 
(see Paras 9-10, for example).  END COMMENT. 
 
===================== 
Poll re Peace Process 
===================== 
 
7.  (U) The latest tracking poll by the Center for 
Policy Alternatives (CPA), a well-regarded local think- 
tank, reported the following key findings: 
 
- Overwhelming public support for the peace process 
continues. 
- A majority of Sri Lankans continue to approve of 
Norway's role as peace facilitator. 
- There has been a steady decline in the belief that the 
LTTE "goes in for talks to fool the people." 
- There has been a steady increase in the number of 
people who believe that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission 
(SLMM) is not "effective."  Many Sinhalese hold this 
view, while Tamils generally do not. 
- The vast majority of Tamils say that the LTTE is the 
"sole representative" of the Tamil community, an 
assertion rejected by most Sinhalese. 
- Most Sri Lankans do not believe that the LTTE should 
be left in control of an interim administration set up 
for the north and east.  The majority of Sinhalese and 
Muslims are opposed to LTTE control, while most Tamils 
are in favor. 
 
(Note:  We are faxing the CPA poll results to SA/INS. 
Mission will also provide SA/INS the results of a recent 
poll it commissioned regarding Sri Lankans attitudes 
toward the U.S.) 
 
8.  (C) COMMENT:  The poll's findings essentially 
confirm what we have heard anecdotally, i.e., there is 
widespread support for the peace process.  It has also 
long been said that there is a chasm dividing Tamil and 
Sinhalese perceptions, with the latter group somewhat 
more skeptical toward the process mainly due to concerns 
regarding the LTTE.  The poll tends to bear this out. 
In any case, the poll indicates there is close to zero 
support for a return to war even among the skeptics. 
END COMMENT. 
 
=============================== 
Muslim Meltdown in Akkaraipattu 
=============================== 
 
9.  (C) In this edition of the flavor of the peace 
process, Mission turns the spotlight on the town of 
Akkaraipattu in the eastern district of Ampara.  Of 
late, Akkaraipattu has been the epicenter of much of the 
anger that many eastern Muslims feel toward the peace 
process (see Reftels).  (Note:  Akkaraipattu has about 
35,000 residents of which over 90 percent are Muslim.) 
Earlier in the month, for example, fighting broke out 
between police and Tamils near the town leaving seven 
dead.  This incident led to Muslim and Tamil clashes in 
the town.  In addition, after Muslims were abducted 
purportedly by the LTTE, clashes broke out on the 
outskirts of the town between Muslims and Tamils last 
week, which led the government to impose a curfew for 
several days.  There has also reportedly been some 
Muslim extremist activity in the area, including reports 
that A.L.M. Athaullah, an MP from Akkaraipattu, was 
involved in stirring things up.  (Note:  Athaullah has 
recently been at odds with the leader of his party, Rauf 
Hakeem of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, over the peace 
process -- see Reftel.) 
 
10.  (C) COMMENT:  Clues as to why Akkaraipattu is so 
tense are not hard to find.  The town is surrounded by 
Tamil communities, leaving the pocket of Muslims in 
Akkaraipattu feeling isolated and vulnerable.  When 
Mission team visited the town in June, it met with many 
Muslims who were extremely worried that the government's 
peace initiative was a "sell out" to the LTTE (see 
Reftels).  Despite the government's best efforts, every 
indication is that this feeling is stronger than ever. 
In an October 23 meeting, for example, Chandra Nehru, a 
Tamil National Alliance MP from near the town, told us 
that the situation in the Akkaraipattu area remained 
extremely tense and was even explosive.  END COMMENT. 
 
11.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS