US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO705

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000705 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR D, SA, SA/INS, S/CT 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  04-24-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, EAID, CE, NO, JA, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  In another negative signal, Tigers postpone 
meeting of key assistance committee 
 
Refs:  (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 240442Z 03 
 
-      (B) Colombo 696, and previous 
-      (C) Oslo 803 (Notal) 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons:  1.5 (B, D). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Late April 23, the Tamil Tigers 
postponed the next meeting of a key committee focused on 
humanitarian assistance issues.  Admitting to being 
caught off guard, the Norwegian facilitators are 
reviewing next steps.  The Indian polcouns told us he 
thought the decision was another tactical step.  Coupled 
with their recent withdrawal from the peace talks, the 
latest Tiger move places added pressure on the whole 
process.  END SUMMARY. 
 
================================ 
Tiger Statement re Key Committee 
================================ 
 
2.  (U) In a statement issued late April 23, the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) announced that 
it was postponing the next meeting of a key committee 
focused on humanitarian assistance issues (see Para 3 
for information on this committee).  The statement came 
in the form of a letter from S.P. Thamilchelvam, the 
head of the LTTE's Political Section, to Ambassador 
Bernard Goonetilleke, the head of the GSL's Peace 
Secretariat. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
3.  (U) (((Note:  Before the LTTE's April 23 
announcement, the next meeting of the Sub-Committee on 
Immediate Humanitarian and Rebilitation Needs in the 
North and the East, "SIHRN," had been scheduled to take 
place April 25-26 in Kilinochchi in the LTTE-controlled 
Wanni region.  SIHRN, which began operations earlier 
this year as agreed in the peace talks, is a joint 
committee made up of GSL and LTTE representatives. 
Norwegian facilitators and Japanese advisers guide the 
process.  SIHRN had been holding semi-regular meetings 
up to this point.))) 
 
4.  (U) The LTTE's statement attributes the decision to 
postpone the meeting to "our leadership's wish to await 
action and implementation on urgent matters" raised in 
its April 21 announcement that it was pulling out of the 
peace talks (see Ref B).  The statement, the text of 
which is contained in Para 8, goes on to complain that: 
"As you (the GSL) are aware, urgent action is required 
on resettlement and rehabilitation of internally 
displaced people and of refugees.  We wish to implore 
the government of Sri Lanka to act on matters...enabling 
the return to normal life to people" in the north and 
east.  The statement wraps up by saying:  "We wish to 
reiterate that mutual trust and cooperation can be 
restored through decisive and urgent action" by the 
government "to alleviate the hardships of the people in 
the northeast." 
 
============================= 
Norwegian and Indian Reaction 
============================= 
 
5.  (C) When queried, Norwegian government facilitators 
admitted to being caught off guard by the LTTE's latest 
action.  In an April 24 conversation, Norwegian embassy 
polchief Tomas Stangeland told us the first indication 
the GoN had that the meeting was being postponed was a 
LTTE fax containing Thamilchelvam's letter that came in 
April 23.  Up to that time, the Norwegians, convinced 
the meeting was on, were preparing to send their team to 
Kilinochchi.  In response to the unfolding events, 
Stangeland said Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar 
planned to meet with GSL officials led by chief 
negotiator G.L. Peiris to discuss next steps soon.  The 
GoN has also forwarded a request to Kilinochchi to meet 
with Thamilchelvam within the next week (as of late 
April 24, there had been no response to this request 
from the LTTE).  Stangeland added that he thought the 
decision by the LTTE to postpone the meeting was 
completely counter-productive.  He said the Norwegian 
facilitation effort would keep plugging away, hoping 
that the Tigers' recent decisions were mere posturing. 
 
6.  (C) In an April 24 meeting, Indian High Commission 
polchief Taranjit Sandhu told us the Tigers' decision 
was another "unfortunate" move by the group.  He said he 
thought it was a "tactical" step by the Tigers, who 
wanted to put pressure on the GSL to cave in on various 
issues, including by reducing the security zones in 
Jaffna.  India, he commented, had no indication that the 
group was intending to leave the peace process 
altogether.  The GoI would continue to monitor the 
situation, however. 
 
======= 
COMMENT 
======= 
 
7.  (C) Coupled with their withdrawal from the peace 
talks, the latest Tiger move places added pressure on 
the whole process.  At this point, the government and 
the Norwegians seem to be scrambling a bit to find a way 
to respond to the LTTE and, by doing so, try to prevent 
further unraveling.  While the LTTE is broadcasting its 
views, it seems to have turned off the receive mode, 
however.  Despite all the bad news, there is still not a 
sense of panic regarding the state of the peace process. 
That said, skepticism regarding the LTTE is steadily 
rising.  END COMMENT. 
 
====================== 
Text of LTTE Statement 
====================== 
 
8.  (U) The text of the LTTE statement issued late 
April 23 follows: 
 
Begin text: 
 
Mr. Goonetilleke: 
 
In accordance with the decision of our organization's 
leadership to suspend our participation in the 
negotiations, we regretfully wish to postpone the next 
meeting of the sub committee on immediate humanitarian 
rehabilitation needs (SIHRN).  It is our leadership's 
wish to await action and implementation on urgent 
matters raised by Mr. A. Balasingham in his letter to 
the prime minister, Hon. Mr. Ranil Wickremsinghe, prior 
to setting a date for the next meeting.  As you are 
aware, urgent action is required on resettlement and 
rehabilitation of internally displaced people and of 
refugees. 
 
We also wish to implore the government of Sri Lanka to 
take immediate steps to act on matters already agreed at 
previous meetings of the sub-committee and ensure 
humanitarian and rehabilitation projects in the 
northeast are implemented enabling the return of normal 
life to the people living there.  In the meantime, we 
are also hopeful that all efforts will be made by your 
government to urgently seek the funds from pledges made 
by several international donors at the Oslo conference 
on 25th November last year to be targeted for identified 
projects through the northeast reconstruction fund 
(NERF).  In the last few months, from announcements made 
at our meetings, expectations among the people of the 
northeast have been raised to a high level.  Therefore 
it would be meaningless for the sub-committee to 
continue to meet regularly without any tangible action 
on the ground. 
 
While we regret that we are compelled to postpone the 
next meeting of the SIHRN, we wish to reiterate that 
mutual trust and cooperation can be restored through 
decisive and urgent action from the government of Sri 
Lanka to alleviate the hardships of the people in the 
northeast. 
Yours Truly, 
 
S.P. Thamilchelvam 
Head, Political Section 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
 
End text. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS