US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO728

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT, INR/NESA; NSC FOR E. 
MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  04-29-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINR, CE 
SUBJECT:  After Tigers issue public apology, key 
minister says he will rejoin GSL peace talks team 
 
Refs:  (A) SA/INS-Colombo 04/28/03 class e-mail 
 
-      (B) Colombo-SA/INS 04/28/03 fax 
-      (C) Colombo 720, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  A contretemps was sparked April 28 
when key Minister Milinda Moragoda suddenly announced 
that he would no longer be a part of the GSL's peace 
talks team.  Moragoda blamed the Tigers, asserting that 
the group had spread inaccuracies about him.  The Tigers 
quickly apologized and Moragoda has since retracted his 
decision.  The whole confusing skein of events seems to 
have rebounded in a positive way, with the Tigers -- who 
have been sending very negative signals of late -- 
inviting Moragoda to meet with them.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
============================================= 
ACT ONE:  Key Minister Departs GSL Peace Team 
============================================= 
 
2.  (C)  A contretemps was sparked late April 28 when a 
key Sri Lankan minister announced he would no longer be 
a part of the government's delegation to the peace 
talks.  (Note:  Per a recent decision, the Tamil Tigers 
have suspended their participation in the peace talks. 
The GSL and the Norwegians are working to get the talks 
back on track -- see Ref C.)  In a thinly disguised leak 
(see Para 5 below), Milinda Morogoda, the Minister of 
Economic Reforms, told the press that he was resigning 
from the government's team because the Liberation Tigers 
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had spread inaccuracies about him. 
He complained specifically that LTTE Political Chief 
S.P. Thamilchelvam had told a local newspaper that 
Moragoda had promised the Tigers that they would be able 
to attend the April 14 Washington seminar.  (Note:  The 
Tigers were not able to attend the seminar because they 
are on our FTO list.)  Morogoda, who vociferously denied 
he had given any such promise, said he would refuse to 
take part in talks until the Tigers cleared the air over 
the matter. 
 
3.  (C) (((Note:  In making his comments, Moragoda was 
making reference to a long interview given by 
Thamilchelvam that was published in the April 27 edition 
of the SUNDAY LEADER -- see Ref B for text of the 
interview.  In the quote that angered Moragoda, 
Thamilchelvam was cited as stating that Moragoda had 
told the LTTE that he would "make all endeavors to 
ensure Dr. Balasingham's participation on behalf of the 
LTTE in the Washington conference.  That was a promise 
given by Milinda Morogoda."  FYI:  Anton Balasingham is 
the LTTE's chief negotiator.))) 
 
========================= 
ACT TWO:  LTTE Apologizes 
========================= 
 
4.  (C) Reacting at lightning speed to Moragoda's 
comments, the London-based Balasingham formally 
apologized to Morogoda on April 29.  The apology was 
issued by the pro-LTTE website TamilNet and also in a 
phone call Balasingham placed to Morogoda (also see 
Para 5 below).  On TamilNet, Balasingham was quoted as 
saying that the LTTE regretted that Morogoda had been 
offended as "his contributions to furthering the peace 
process are invaluable.  Mr. Morogoda could not and 
certainly did not give us an assurance that we would be 
able to participate."  A Reuters news report also quoted 
Balasingham as saying "Mr. Milinda Morogoda is a pillar 
of strength of the peace process and I deeply regret 
that this misunderstanding has happened."  In the 
meantime, Thamilchelvam also denied on TamilNet that he 
had made the comments attributed to him and suggested 
there had been errors in translation of his remarks. 
============================ 
ACT THREE:  Morogoda is Back 
============================ 
 
5. (C) Accepting Balasingham's apology with grace, 
Moragoda announced publicly that he was back on the 
government's peace team on April 29.  Moragoda confirmed 
this announcement in a conversation with the Ambassador 
earlier that day.  Morogoda told the Ambassador that 
Balasingham, in a very conciliatory mode, had called him 
late April 28 to apologize over the incident. 
Balasingham claimed that Thamilchelvam's comments had 
been "mistranslated" and that it was all a 
misunderstanding.  (Note:  FYI.  Morogoda had called the 
Ambassador on April 28 and reviewed with him his plan to 
announce his resignation from the GSL peace talks team. 
He asked the Ambassador's advice regarding how to spread 
the news.  The Ambassador demurred giving any advice on 
the matter.) 
 
6.  (C) In a further sign of conciliation during their 
phone call, Balasingham invited Morogoda to accompany 
him to the Wanni region next week to meet with the LTTE 
leadership.  (Note:  This is the first that we heard of 
Balasingham's plan to visit Sri Lanka.)  Balasingham 
said he realized that radio silence vis-a-vis the 
Norwegian government facilitators was perhaps not the 
best course of action and he told Morogoda that he 
planned to invite Norwegian special envoy Erik Solheim 
to meet with him in London soon.  (Note:  Solheim has 
reportedly been trying to meet with Balasingham for the 
past several weeks to no avail.  Per Ref C, we 
understand that a Norwegian team is due to visit the 
Wanni on April 30 in an effort to break the ice between 
Norway and the LTTE.) 
 
======= 
COMMENT 
======= 
 
7.  (C) Moragoda is a key member of the government's 
peace talks team.  Although not the GSL's chief 
negotiator, a position held by the more senior G.L. 
Peiris, Moragoda is acknowledged to be a well-informed, 
well-connected, dynamic presence on the team.  His 
absence would be a real loss for the GSL and it is good 
that he's back on the team.  In any case, the whole 
confusing skein of events seems to have rebounded in a 
positive way with the Tigers inviting Moragoda to meet 
with them.  Given that they have been sending very 
negative signals of late, e.g., pulling out from the 
talks, such a meeting could potentially go some way in 
helping clear matters up.  (Note:  The fact that 
Moragoda mentioned the matter to the Ambassador before 
his sudden announcement and asked him how he should play 
it with the press was interesting.  It tends to 
underscore the uncertainty and doubt with which the 
government approaches the whole subject of how to deal 
with the Tigers.)  END COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS