US embassy cable - 05MADRID3301

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 003301 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, SP, Counterterrorism 
SUBJECT: SPAIN SUPPORTS EU LISTING OF LTTE AS TERRORIST 
ORGANIZATION 
 
REF: STATE 172115 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Kathy Fitzpatrick; reasons 1.4 (B) and 
 (D) 
 
(C) Poloff conveyed reftel points on 9/19 to Miguel Garcia 
Herraiz in the MFA Directorate General for Terrorism, Arms 
Control, and Disarmament and urged Spanish support for the 
listing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a 
terrorist organization.  Herraiz said he had been carefully 
following the issue within the EU and that the consensus was 
clearly shifting towards the view that the Sri Lankan peace 
process would be best served by listing the LTTE as a 
terrorist group, a position Spain supports.  He cautioned, 
however, that the debate remains open, as some EU members 
continue to believe that an EU listing of the LTTE would 
simply push the group towards greater radicalization. 
Herraiz said the assasination of Foreign Minister Lakshman 
Kadirgamar had undermined this view, demonstrating that the 
Tigers were edging towards greater violence on their own 
account and had to be restrained.  He said that an EU listing 
of the LTTE could be virtually assured if the LTTE's 
responsibility for the killing could be definitively 
established. 
AGUIRRE