US embassy cable - 02COLOMBO2007

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  10-28-12 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINR, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Biographic sketches of new members of LTTE 
negotiating team slated to attend upcoming talks 
 
Ref:  Colombo 1682 
 
(U) Classified by W. Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) Para three contains brief biographic sketches of 
two new members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE) negotiating team.  (Note:  The second round of 
peace talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan 
government is scheduled to take place in Thailand from 
October 31 - November 3.)  The two new members of the 
LTTE team are:  S.P. Thamilchelvam, the chief of the 
LTTE's political wing; and Colonel V. Karuna, an 
important LTTE military commander.  (Note:  See Reftel 
for bio-data on the other members of the LTTE team: 
Anton Balasingham, the head of delegation and LTTE 
spokesman; Adele Balasingham, the secretary for the team 
and spouse of Anton Balasingham; J. Maheswaran, a 
development expert; and V. Rudrakumar, a LTTE legal 
adviser based in the U.S.) 
 
2.  (C) Para four also contains bio-data on V. 
Balakumaran, who was recently selected by the LTTE to 
serve as its principal representative on the GSL-LTTE 
Joint Task Force on humanitarian issues. 
 
3.  (C) Brief biographic sketches of the two new LTTE 
delegation members follow: 
 
-- S.P. Thamilchelvam, age approximately 38, is head of 
the LTTE's political wing.  Thamilchelvam is the LTTE 
official most often in the press explaining the group's 
positions (aside from the LTTE's official spokesman, 
Anton Balasingham).  Since the advent of the peace 
process, he has often been on local and international 
TV, and has been a key interlocutor with the Norwegian 
government peace facilitation team.  In interviews, he 
is soft-spoken, often flashing his trademark (and 
somewhat unnerving) toothy grin.  In his current 
position, Thamilchelvam is said to work very closely 
with LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran. 
 
Before joining the political wing, Thamilchelvam served 
in the LTTE's military wing in Jaffna, reportedly 
fighting in many battles against Sri Lankan security 
forces, as well against the Indian Peacekeeping Force 
(IPKF).  In fighting against GSL forces near the Jaffna 
town of Chavakachcheri in 1994, he suffered a serious 
leg injury, and he still walks with a limp and the 
assistance of a cane.  Thamilchelvam is said to have 
been close to Mahattaya, a top LTTE official who was 
killed in the early 1990s after coming into conflict 
with Prabhakaran. 
 
Thamilchelvam is from Mavattapuram near Jaffna town.  He 
attended high school at Union College in Tellippalai, 
Jaffna.  As is the case with many LTTE leaders, 
including Prabhakaran, he is from a lower caste within 
the Hindu community.  (Note:  The name of the caste is 
"Ambattar," which was traditionally for barbers.)  He 
speaks Tamil, and some English and Sinhalese. 
 
-- Colonel V. Karuna, approximately 35, is an important 
LTTE military commander, now serving the group as its 
military chief in Ampara and Batticaloa Districts in the 
Eastern province.  In addition to Paduman, the military 
chief in Trincomalee, Karuna is the most senior LTTE 
official in the east and apparently the most senior 
eastern Tamil in the group's hierarchy.  Although he has 
not been involved in the Norwegian facilitation talks 
before, he has dealt extensively with the Norwegian-run 
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).  Observers say 
Karuna has been included on the LTTE's negotiating team 
to ensure that the eastern Tamil perspective is heard. 
Unlike his recently sidelined colleague, Karikalan (one 
name only), the former political chief in the 
Batticaloa/Ampara sector, Karuna is not said to be 
viscerally anti-Muslim.  In the early 1980s, Karuna 
reportedly received military training in India sponsored 
by RAW, the Indian intelligence organization.  He is 
from the town of Kiran in Batticaloa District.  He 
attended high school at Batticaloa Central College. 
Aside from Tamil, he reportedly speaks adequate English 
and broken Sinhalese. 
 
4.  (C) Bio-data on V. Balakumaran, the LTTE's choice as 
its head representative on the JTF, follows: 
 
-- Velupillai Balakumaran (alias "Banku Bala"), age 
roughly 45, is said to be a close associate of 
Prabhakaran on political issues.  He has been working on 
humanitarian-related issues for the LTTE off-and-on for 
the past decade, which is apparently why he was chosen 
for the JTF position.  A longtime militant, he helped 
form a group called EROS (Eelam Revolutionary 
Organization) in 1975.  The group was Marxist-Leninist 
in ideology.  In 1990, when EROS split into two, one 
group led by Balakumaran joined the LTTE.  Balakumaran 
reportedly received training in India and also 
reportedly trained with Prabhakaran himself in the mid- 
1970s at a Tamil militant camp near Vavuniya town in 
north-central Sri Lanka.  He is reportedly relatively 
well-educated and well-traveled for a LTTE official.  He 
is from Jaffna. 
 
5.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS