US embassy cable - 02COLOMBO2055

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  11-01-2002 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, CE, NO, TH, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  GSL says court judgment convicting LTTE leader 
in 1996 terrorist attack will not impact peace track 
 
Refs:  Colombo 2047, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by W. Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  A court has convicted LTTE leader V. 
Prabhakaran in absentia of planning a 1996 terrorist 
attack.  The GSL has said the judgment will not affect 
the peace process.  The LTTE has not yet formally 
reacted.  The announcement came on the same day as GSL 
and LTTE negotiators sat down to begin their second 
round of talks.  Based on initial soundings, the talks 
seem to have gotten off to a positive start.  With 
Prabhakaran firmly ensconced in the jungle, the ruling 
has little practical impact, but it does complicate 
matters for the GSL in the long run.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Court Ruling on Prabhakaran 
--------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) In a widely publicized October 31 ruling, a Sri 
Lanka trial court has convicted Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Prabhakaran in absentia of 
planning a 1996 terrorist attack.  The trial court judge 
sentenced Prabhakaran to 200 years in prison and a 
warrant was issued for his arrest.  Three other low- 
level LTTE operatives were found guilty and given hefty 
sentences.  Two of these three are currently in custody, 
while the other is believed to be "absconding" in LTTE- 
controlled areas.  Pottu Aman, the LTTE intelligence 
chief, and three others were acquitted.  This is 
believed to be the first time that Prabhakaran has been 
convicted by a Sri Lankan court.  (Note:  Along with 
other LTTE officials, Prabhakaran remains under 
indictment in India for the May 1991 murder of Rajiv 
Gandhi.) 
 
3.  (SBU) The case involved the January 31, 1996 bombing 
of the Central Bank building in downtown Colombo which 
killed 78 people.  This attack was one of the most 
brutal LTTE terrorist attacks in Colombo.  (Note:  As is 
its pattern, the LTTE did not accept responsibility for 
the blast, but the incident had all the hallmarks of a 
LTTE attack and evidence eventually linked LTTE 
operatives to the crime.)  Indictments of Prabhakaran 
and his LTTE associates were handed down in 1996. 
 
4.  (C) Against the backdrop of the peace process, it is 
not clear why the trial court judge ruled on the case at 
this time.  Desmond Fernando, a well-known lawyer, told 
us that the case has been "meandering through the 
judicial process for years."  Fernando speculated that 
the judge who made the ruling, Sarath Ambepitiya, might 
be against the peace process and trying to undermine it, 
but he was not sure.  "It would have been easy for the 
judge to postpone his ruling in any case," Fernando 
said. 
 
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GSL:  No Impact on Peace Process 
-------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) The government was quick to announce that the 
ruling would have no impact on the peace process. 
Speaking in Thailand where he is participating in the 
second round of peace talks with the LTTE (see Para 7), 
G.L. Peiris, the Minister of Constitutional Affairs 
(among other portfolios), said he could not discuss the 
merits of the ruling itself.  Peiris added, however, 
that he was "of the firm view that the court's decision 
would have no effect on the peace process." 
 
6.  (C) For its part, the LTTE did not have an immediate 
response to the verdict.  Gajendran Ponnambalam, a Tamil 
National Alliance MP, told us that the LTTE might be 
"annoyed" by the ruling, but he did not think the group 
would opt out of the peace process over the issue. 
Ponnambalam noted that the court decision may have 
provoked some levity in the jungle bastions of the LTTE, 
with some in the group thinking "if that is how the 
court feels then by all means try and come to arrest 
us!" 
 
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Talks seem off to Positive Start 
-------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) The announcement came on the same day 
(October 31) as GSL and LTTE negotiators sat down to 
begin their second round of talks in Thailand (see 
Reftels).  Based on initial soundings, the talks seem to 
have gotten off to a positive start.  G.L. Peiris said 
the talks had been held in a "cordial and constructive" 
atmosphere.  According to press reports, the major focus 
of the first day was ways to ease tensions between the 
Tigers and the Muslim community in the east. 
Ponnambalam said he had heard that the LTTE was 
"satisfied" with how the first day went.  The talks are 
set to continue until Sunday, November 3, when they wrap 
up with a late afternoon press conference. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8.  (C) The ruling has little practical effect inasmuch 
as Prabhakaran -- surrounded by 15-20,000 armed and 
rabid supporters in jungle hideouts -- does not appear 
to be a likely candidate for arrest.  That said, there 
is little doubt that the judgment complicates matters 
for the government in the long run.  The ruling, for 
example, makes it even more difficult for the GSL to 
deal directly with Prabhakaran in the course of the 
peace process if it needed to -- and the LTTE leader 
already verges on the radioactive because of his many 
crimes.  There are probably legal ways that the 
government could act to quash the verdict or obviate it, 
but these might provoke domestic opposition.  The 
government, thus, could be put in a fix if/when the time 
comes that it needs Prabhakaran's imprimatur to seal 
some sort of peace deal.  END COMMENT. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS