US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO560

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000560 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, SA/PD, IO, DS/DSS/ITA, 
DSERCC, INR/NESA, AND NEA/NGA 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL: 04-02-13 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KPAO, ASEC, CE, MV, IZ, UN, External Relations 
SUBJECT:  TFIZ01:  Mission conveys latest message re 
UNGA; President Kumaratunga hits out at U.S. 
 
Refs:  (A) State 84320 
 
-      (B) Colombo 552, and previous (Notal) 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons: 1.5 (B,D). 
 
1.  (C)  This update, focused on reaction to Operation 
Iraqi Freedom in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, reviews: 
 
>> Mission conveys latest points re blocking possible 
UNGA meeting 
 
>> Taking a different tack than the government, 
President Kumaratunga hits out at the U.S. 
 
>> NGO, Muslim criticism of the war 
 
>> The missing "Al-Jazeera factor" 
 
(((Note:  Latest media coverage is provided Septel.))) 
 
--------------------------------- 
Demarche on Blocking UNGA Meeting 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Per Ref A instruction cable, Mission has 
conveyed the latest points re blocking a possible UNGA 
meeting to the Sri Lankan and Maldivian governments. 
Neither government has yet replied to our points.  Based 
on previous demarches with similar themes, we would 
expect both governments to be relatively sympathetic to 
our points.  That said, both countries will almost 
certainly do whatever the majority of NAM, G-77 members 
are doing (the Maldives will also look to the OIC), 
while checking to see what regional power India plans to 
do.  Mission will continue to press this important issue 
with both governments. 
 
------------------ 
President Hits Out 
------------------ 
 
3.  (C) In her first public comments on the subject, 
President Kumraratunga has criticized the U.S. regarding 
the war in Iraq.  (Note:  Kumaratunga has been on 
vacation in Europe, only returning to Sri Lanka the 
other day.  See Ref C for comments she made during a 
talk to the local diplomatic corps on March 31.)  In 
April 1 remarks mixed into a speech on a different 
subject, Kumraratunga stated that U.S. policy had a 
"double standard" in that we urged the GSL to talk to 
the terrorist Tamil Tigers, while we went ahead and 
attacked Iraq.  Kumaratunga reportedly made some other 
points to the net effect that she felt that the war in 
Iraq was "unnecessary." 
 
4.  (C) Based on what Mission has heard, Kumaratunga, in 
private, is viscerally opposed to the coalition's 
actions in Iraq.  While members of her People's Alliance 
(PA) party have also criticized Operation Iraqi Freedom, 
it is not clear whether Kumaratunga's salvo is the 
beginning of a more active anti-war posture by her and 
her party, or just grist for the mill.  Kumaratunga's 
comments also put her at odds with the United National 
Front (UNF) government, which issued a relatively 
constructive statement re the war late last month. 
(Note:  No surprise there:  The president and the UNP 
government have been in a stressful "cohabitation" 
arrangement since December 2001 and rarely see eye-to- 
eye.) 
 
--------------------- 
NGO, Muslim Criticism 
--------------------- 
 
5.  (C) NGO Reaction:  As is probably the case with most 
posts, Mission has received a lot of mail and faxes 
opposing the war.  One group that has been well- 
represented in these communications has been the local 
non-governmental organization (NGO) community working on 
civil society/human rights issues.  One fax that seemed 
to symbolize the views of these NGOs came from Jehan 
Perera, the head of the National Peace Council, which 
specializes in peace process and human rights issues. 
In his fax, Perera, who was educated at Harvard, but has 
always maintained a slightly anti-U.S. edge, states, in 
part: 
"...We appeal to the coalition forces of the United 
States and United Kingdom to immediately halt their 
military campaign that has no UN sanction...The 
experience of Sri Lanka and other war-affected countries 
has been one in which armies that bomb villages and 
cities cannot win the hearts and minds of the 
population." 
 
6.  (C) Muslim Reaction:  In previous messages, Mission 
has noted that Sri Lanka's small Muslim community (not 
surprisingly) seems the most agitated of any group in 
the country concerning the Iraq war.  Re the latest 
doings in the community, Mission has heard that Sri 
Lanka's mullahs and maulavis (Muslim religious clergy) 
are urging Muslims to boycott all American products. 
According to reports, clergy in many of Sri Lanka's 
mosques made such a request last Friday, March 28. 
(Note:  In the past, Mission has picked up pamphlets 
distributed by extremists that demanded that Muslims and 
others boycott U.S. goods.  Many of the companies that 
were classified as being American in these crudely made 
pamphlets were actually European or even Japanese.) 
 
------------------------------- 
The Missing "Al-Jazeera Factor" 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU) Mission has seen the press reports commenting 
on the role that Al-Jazeera's inflammatory coverage is 
having in helping whip up anti-U.S. sentiment in the 
Arab world.  We checked and confirmed that Al-Jazeera is 
generally not available in Sri Lanka, except to the 
very, very few people that subscribe to it and own a 
satellite dish.  (Note:  Our guess is that the embassies 
of Middle Eastern countries are the main patrons.)  BBC, 
CNN, and SKY TV are by far the most popular channels for 
international news here, and local news shows have been 
invariably using video feed from these channels in 
reports re the Iraq war.  Based on this, it is safe to 
say that in Sri Lanka, at least, there is no discernible 
"Al-Jazeera factor."  (Note:  In the Maldives, a 
relatively affluent Muslim country with close links with 
the Middle East, we believe that Al-Jazeera probably 
does have an audience.  It is not clear how large it is, 
however.) 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
8.  (C) Thus far, as we have previously reported, 
reaction in Sri Lanka to Operation Iraqi Freedom has 
been muted.  (Note:  In fact, most observers believe 
that local reaction against the war to topple Al-Qaida 
and the Taliban in Afghanistan was more heated than that 
against the Iraq war, so far.)  If the president, 
starting with her statement reported above, leads a 
charge against the war, that equation could change. 
Such an effort by the PA would be quixotic to say the 
least, however:  Sri Lanka is so wrapped up in its many, 
many problems that the average person is not likely to 
buy into an anti-U.S. smear campaign.  END COMMENT. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS