US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO543

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000543 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  03-31-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PHUM, ECON, SOCI, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  In positive move for peace process, Tigers 
agree to discuss Muslim claims re land in the east 
 
Ref:  Colombo 229 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  A March 27 meeting between Muslims and 
the Tamil Tigers has gone some way toward dealing with a 
long-standing dispute over land.  The dispute revolves 
around Muslim claims that the Tigers have kicked them 
off land they own in the east.  Muslim and Tamil 
representatives laud the meeting and its agreement to 
discuss the issue further as a positive development. 
Due in large part to constructive discussions such as 
that on March 27, Muslim-Tamil tensions in the east seem 
to have eased a bit of late.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) MARCH 27 MEETING:  A long-standing dispute 
between Muslims and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE) involving land in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province 
was discussed in a constructive fashion at a March 27 
meeting in Batticaloa District.  The meeting was hosted 
by the Norwegian-run Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission 
(SLMM), and involved delegations led by Deputy Minister 
of Housing Basheer Dawood of the Sri Lanka Muslim 
Congress (SLMC) and T. Ramesh, a high-ranking LTTE 
commander in the east.  With respect to substance, the 
delegations agreed to form three committees to look into 
land dispute issues in three specific areas of the east. 
The delegations also agreed on a draft proposal 
regarding the dispute that would be presented at the 
seventh round of high-level peace talks, which is 
scheduled to take place April 29 - May 2.  The key 
phrase from the draft proposal is that whatever "rights, 
privileges and obligations that are available to Tamils 
will be extended to Muslims as well, as far as the 
paddy-lands are concerned."  (Note:  Most of the lands 
in question are agricultural -- see Para 3.)  At the 
close of the meeting, the two sides issued a joint 
statement that said their discussion had been "frank, 
open, cordial and friendly." 
 
3.  (C) A LONG-SIMMERING DISPUTE:  The dispute basically 
centers on accusations by Muslims that the Tigers have 
seized huge swaths of Muslim-owned land in the east. 
Muslims, specifically, assert that members of their 
community have been evicted from between 40-50,000 acres 
of farmland (mostly paddy fields) by Tamils backed up 
the LTTE.  The Muslims note that the land in question is 
quite fertile and that the loss in income for their 
community has been immense.  For their part, LTTE 
representatives state that Muslims have not been 
evicted, but that, because of the war, the Sri Lankan 
military has cut off access to their lands to them.  The 
LTTE has also argued that much of the land that the 
Muslims claim was, in fact, originally owned by Tamils 
in any case.  While most observers admit that the 
dispute is complex and involves multiple plots with 
different histories, they basically give more credence 
to the Muslim side of the argument. 
 
4.  (C) POSITIVE REACTION:  Muslim and Tamil 
representatives laud the meeting's outcome as a positive 
development.  National Unity Alliance (NUA) MP M.L.A.M 
Hizbullah, a Muslim from Batticaloa, told us he was 
enthusiastic about the meeting's outcome.  He said he 
believed Muslims might even be tilling their lands in 
the east again in the very near future.  He added one 
point of caution, however, commenting that twice before 
the LTTE has permitted Muslims to return to work on 
their lands only to have the LTTE steal the harvest. 
(Note:  This happened during previous peace processes.) 
That said, he remarked that the March 27 meeting was a 
solid first step, which should create momentum to 
resolve the issue. 
 
5.  (C) In the meantime, G. Ponnambalam, a Tamil 
National Alliance MP, told us that he also thought the 
meeting was a real confidence-builder.  He argued that 
LTTE control of the paddy fields has been primarily 
motivated by military concerns.  With the ceasefire now 
in place, he said he believed that the Tigers will soon 
return land to the Muslims since they (the Muslims) are 
no longer considered "enemies" to the Tamil cause. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT:  Due in large part to constructive 
discussions such as that on March 27, Muslim-Tamil 
tensions in the east seem to have eased a bit of late. 
The LTTE's agreement to pursue a resolution of the 
multiple claims re land seems to have done wonders as a 
confidence-building measure for the Muslims.  That said, 
as noted above, the LTTE has given promises in this area 
before only to turn its back on them.  In addition to 
continued discussions re land, Muslims are also looking 
forward to political-level consultations with the LTTE, 
which are slated to take place within the next three 
weeks.  END COMMENT. 
 
7.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS