US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO714

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000714 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR D, INR/R/MR, I/RW, I/REC; PA 
SA/INS(FOR JWALLER); SA/PD (FOR LJIRWIN, LSCENSNY, 
WREINCKENS); SSA/PAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, PTER, OPRC, KMDR, OIIP, CE, EGEN, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA PLAY - AMBASSADOR WILLS' 4/24 REUTERS 
INTERVIEW ABOUT LTTE SUSPENSION OF TALKS 
 
1.  On April 21, the LTTE announced it was suspending peace 
talks. In a letter to the GSL, the LTTE listed its reasons 
for suspending talks as: its exclusion from the 4/14 
Washington Conference, problems with the ceasefire accord 
implementation, and that GSL had not focused enough on 
rebuilding the economy of the North and East. On April 24, 
Reuters ran an exclusive interview with Ambassador Wills 
focusing on USG reaction to this letter.  The full text of 
the interview was later released to the press (Reftel 
Colombo 0707).  In addition to Reuters and Agence France- 
Presse, nearly all major English, Tamil and Sinhala dailies 
carried the story, some with the full text of the 
interview.  Major television and radio stations did the 
same.  There were no editorials.  Given the extensive 
attention from the dailies, we expect less weekend paper 
news coverage. 
 
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Television and Radio. 
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2. In their 4/24 newscasts,  independent and government- 
owned Sri Lankan telecasters (MTV, SLRC, ITN, Swarnavahini 
and TNL) and radio stations carried the Ambassador's 
interview as a headline story.  Ambassador Wills also spoke 
with BBC World's television program Asia Today. 
 
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Newspapers. 
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3. The Ambassador's comments were headlined by all major 
English, Sinhala, and Tamil dailies.  The independent 
English daily, the MIRROR ran the headline "Get back to 
talks - US tells Tigers" with the full text of the 
interview on the second page.  Government-owned English 
DAILY NEWS ran "U.S., France urge return to peace table" 
below the fold, and mentioned France only briefly.  Both 
the MIRROR and DAILY NEWS articles highlighted the US 
desire for the Tigers to return to negotiations, negative 
Tiger behaviors, development assistance, and the need for 
the LTTE to give up terrorism to gain international 
recognition.  Opposition English daily, the ISLAND led 
with,"LTTE should return to negotiating table - Ashley 
Wills."   They covered the same topics, (but selected 
excerpts somewhat more critical of the LTTE), and included 
the full text. 
 
 
4/24 Tamil headlines were similar.  Independent Tamil 
daily, Virakesari  reports:"US request Tigers to attend 
talks" continuing "...if the Liberation Tigers wish to 
represent the Tamil people in fulfilling their aspirations, 
they cannot pull out but should participate at the peace 
talks" and significant excerpts of the text.  Under the 
headline,"Tigers should not pull out from talks; Must 
attend Tokyo Conference" - requests US," Independent Tamil 
daily, Thinakkural noted "Today, world's attention on Sri 
Lanka is more than ever before. The international community 
will be watching closely to see that no one's rights get 
abused systemically once a final settlement is found. If 
Tigers wish to be respected, they should accept the true 
situation and work together with the government to build a 
new Sri Lanka. Tigers should not pull out from talks with 
the government. They also should attend the Tokyo Aid 
Conference, said the US Ambassador for Sri Lanka Ashley 
Wills."  State owned Tamil daily, Thinakaran's headline 
article, "US informs Tigers to resume talks" continued with 
"US requests Tamil militants to attend talks as that is the 
only way to wipe out the sufferings of Tamil people.  LTTE 
has informed that it is temporarily pulling out of peace 
talks showing that nothing has been done to uplift the 
standard of living of the Tamil people in the north and 
East and for not being invited to the Washington 
Meeting...If LTTE wishes to safeguard the welfare of the 
Tamil people, they should not pull out but attend the peace 
talks, said US Ambassador Ashley Wills....Further he said, 
that the government and the LTTE should honor the 
conditions in the ceasefire agreement during the time of 
the suspension of talks." 
 
Headlines in the Sinhala dailies were more slanted against 
the LTTE.   Government-owned Sinhala daily DINAMINA led 
with "Return to negotiation table; announcement of 
withdrawal from Japan talks is a great mistake - America 
tells LTTE," and reported "America has pointed out to LTTE 
that it has done a big mistake with this 
announcement..Facts like assassination of opponents, child 
soldier issues, ransom etc do not help build any confidence 
on the LTTE.LTTE had earlier stated that exclusion from 
Washington talks, no progress in the north development 
process etc, paved way to their decision of withdrawal..But 
Mr. Ashley Wills stated that the exclusion was because of 
US's seeing them as terrorists .."  Independent Sinhala 
daily LANKADEEPA led with, "America rejects tiger 
reasoning" and reported "If they genuinely represent Tamils 
they should not have flee from the negotiations table... 
Did not LTTE engage in violations of MOU, ransoms, child 
soldier recruitment?  American Ambassador requests to 
return to peace talks.."  Independent Sinhala daily DIVAINA 
ran, "If LTTE respects Tamil people's rights, they should 
have not withdrawn from peace talks" - US Ambassador Ashley 
Wills," and continued "If they are genuine on Tamil 
people's interests, they should attend peace talks... Blame 
should not be only on SLG... Solution only through 
negotiations... Devolution of power a possible solution... 
Sri Lanka should be one country... All ethnicities rights 
can be protected only through a democratic system... Tiger 
objective should be achieving peace as quickly as 
possible... Their acts delay this... delay the day of Tamil 
communities living in a peaceful environment... They have 
already missed several opportunities..." 
 
International coverage began with the exclusive granted to 
Reuters (4/23) , "U.S. urges Tamil Tigers to return to 
peace table."  Agence France-Presse (4/24) also carried 
excerpts from the interview under the headline "US slams 
Tigers over pull out from Sri Lanka talks,"  and began with 
"The United States Thursday slammed Tamil Tiger guerrillas 
for suspending peace talks with the Colombo government and 
warned the rebels they must renounce "terrorism" and resume 
negotiations."  The Hindu of India (4/24) states, "LTTE 
pursuing violent, separatist agenda: U.S." 
 
Wills