US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1879

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: TIGERS BAG ANOTHER INTELLIGENCE OFFICER WHILE 
KILLINGS CONTINUE IN THE EAST 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 812 
     B. COLOMBO 1800 
     C. COLOMBO 454 
 
Classified By: DCM James F. Entwistle.  Reason: 1.4 (B,D) 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
1.  (C)  On the evening of October 29, an assassin shot and 
killed Sri Lankan Army (SLA) LTCOL T.R. Meedin as the officer 
sat in his car.  This killing follows the May 31 murder of 
another high ranking Tamil speaking intelligence officer MAJ 
T.N. Muthalif.  Police  arrested four suspects on October 30 
amid speculation surrounding the affiliation and motivation 
of the perpetrators.  Some authorities view this latest 
killing as a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) response 
to the October 10 attack on senior LTTE cadres Bhanu and 
Keerthi.  In the eastern district of Batticaloa, the LTTE 
fought members of COL Karuna's LTTE breakaway faction, the 
Tamil National Force (TNF), on October 30 and severely 
injured two women living behind a police Special Task Force 
(STF) camp in a grenade attack that same day.  END SUMMARY 
 
A KILLING 
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2.  (C) On October 29, LTCOL Meedin was found shot to death 
in his car after leaving his Colombo home to meet an 
unidentified acquaintance.  He died from those wounds a few 
hours later. 
 
WHO SHOT T.R.? AND WHY? 
---------------------- 
3.  (C)  Press, police and military contacts have divergent 
theories on the killing.  Contacts in the security forces 
speculate that the LTTE, which has killed 64 members of 
military intelligence since the Cease-fire Agreement (CFA), 
may have assassinated Meedin, perhaps in retaliation for the 
October 10 attack on LTTE district military head Bhanu and 
district intelligence chief Keerthi (Reftel B).  Some press 
accounts of the killing suggested that the killer might have 
been hired by the LTTE, rather than an LTTE cadre himself. 
An alternate theory is that Meedin's work often involved 
informers, one of them could have turned on him or delivered 
him to an LTTE hitman.  Press speculation points to a 
possible business deal gone sour in which his wealthy 
associate had underworld ties. 
 
MEANWHILE BACK AT THE COAST 
--------------------------- 
4.  (U)  On October 30, the LTTE and Karuna's TNF fighters 
clashed in LTTE-controlled territory near the village of 
Vaharai in Batticaloa district with casualties on both sides. 
 The pro-LTTE website TamilNet accused Sri Lankan 
intelligence operatives of being in company with the TNF 
renegades.  Later that day two men on motorcycle threw 
grenades at a house behind an STF camp seriously injuring a 
mother and daughter.  Mounted attacks on motorbike are 
standard for the LTTE and recently, women seen 
"collaborating" have been intimidated or attacked. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
5.  (C)  The violence in Batticaloa district has become a 
social norm, marching to a steady beat.  We do not expect the 
murder of Meedin will change the GSL policy of formally 
respecting the CFA.  That said, the TNF or some other 
anti-LTTE force could exact revenge.  Conventional  wisdom 
paints the LTTE as cash rich and manpower poor since the 2002 
CFA.  Using local criminal gangs would add a layer of 
deniability to Tiger CFA violations and conserve their 
hard-core Black Tiger cadres for high value targets like the 
Foreign Minister.  If the LTTE did use hired killers, it 
could indicate not just a manpower shortage, but an 
opportunity for security forces, since contract killers are 
far more likely to talk to police than take a cyanide capsule. 
LUNSTEAD