US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO983

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 000983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Department for D (Gastright), INR/MR, I/RW, I/REC, 
SA (Camp, Waller), SA/PD (Brennig, Irwin, Scensny) SSA/PAS; 
SSO (Pass to D);  Tokyo (Hara, Bryan) 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OPRC, KMDR, OIIP, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA PLAY: (June 8) Tokyo Conference; Colombo 
 
 
1. Summary.  On the eve of the Tokyo Conference, a frenetic 
Sri Lankan media was consumed with talk of an interim 
administration for the north and east and the fate of donor 
money sans LTTE participation.  Tamil newspapers were 
engrossed with Tokyo-related issues large and small - but 
especially with donor money.  Media sympathetic to the GSL 
reiterated the Government`s ability to secure and 
distribute aid money in typically sunny news and editorial 
coverage.  Opposition newspapers led with cohabitation 
drama and offered predictably dour editorial comment. 
Independent media coverage of Tokyo was skeptical and 
prodded the government to "get on with it."  One editorial 
exhorted the Prime Minister to "go the whole hog" in his 
attempt to "bring the Tigers into the mainstream of the Sri 
Lankan polity."  End summary. 
 
----- 
2. LTTE statements and other Tamil reaction. 
----- 
Tamil media was obsessed with every aspect of the Tokyo 
Conference - right down to the seven airplane seats 
reserved for the Tigers should they go to Japan.  Two major 
dailies' headlines were about expected aid money: 
independent weekly VIRAKESARI wrote, "'As the Tigers are 
not participating, it is expected that certain conditions 
would be laid down in granting aid' - political observers," 
while state-owned weekly THINAKARAN VAARAMANJARI comforted, 
" 'Aid for development would be spent as stipulated' - 
Prime Minister assures."  Independent Weekly SUNDAY 
THINAKKURAL's lead story cautioned "Tokyo Conference in the 
midst of doubts about the future of the peace talks." 
 
Major independent Tamil daily VIRAKESARI's front page 
reported on a variety of other issues:  "Norwegian VIPs 
will not attend the Conference,"  "President refuses to 
meet Prime Minister - did not send any greetings for the 
conference," "'India will not participate' - G. L. Peiris," 
and finally, "Seven Visas and seats were reserved for 
Tigers." 
 
Pro-LTTE website Tamilnet headlined (6/7), "Talks should be 
based on concrete proposals - Balasingham." 
 
Block quote: 
 
Negotiations on an Interim Administration for the Northeast 
could only begin once the Sri Lankan government had 
produced a detailed draft of its proposals for such a body, 
the Liberation Tigers said Friday. Discussions could only 
proceed usefully on the basis of "specific and concrete" 
proposals from Colombo, the LTTE's Chief Negotiator and 
Political Advisor, Mr. Anton Balasingham, told TamilNet 
when asked about press reports suggesting the government 
had agreed to the establishment of an Interim 
Administration. 
 
End block quote. 
 
Although Tamil editorialists did not write about Tokyo 
today, extensive editorial comment is expected on Tuesday 
and Wednesday. 
 
Under the headline, "Interim administrative mechanism for 
NE imperative," independent, but pro-UNP English weekly 
SUNDAY LEADER ran an interview on its opinion page with 
Senior Vice President, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) 
and Batticaloa District Member of Parliament, Joseph 
Pararajasingham. 
Block quotes: 
.Pararajasingham says the government's position, that an 
interim administration should be established within the 
parameters of the constitution cannot  be justified when 
the ceasefire agreement itself was framed outside the 
constitution. He said if the ceasefire agreement that was 
drafted outside the constitution has paved the way for 
solid peace in the country, he cannot see any reason why 
the government cannot do the same thing to set up the 
interim administration and give the LTTE a legal body 
through which it could have a politico- administrative and 
decision making body to play a dominant role in the 
administration. "If there is a will there is a way. I also 
think the problem faced by the government from the 
executive is also preventing them from fulfilling the 
demands of the LTTE," he told The Sunday Leader in an 
interview. 
Q: Do you see any justification in the LTTE's continuous 
refusal to accept proposals put forward by Premier 
Wickremesinghe in regard to the interim administration? 
A: There is sufficient reason for the LTTE to refuse what 
was offered by the Prime Minister, taking into 
consideration the past experience and the history of this 
country in regard to the ethnic issue. You see, the LTTE, 
which was fighting for a separate state and was in a 
formidable position in terms of war, unilaterally declared 
a ceasefire and also signed a Memorandum of Understanding 
with the government because they felt the sufferings of the 
Tamil people had to be alleviated. 
They are now firmly committed to a negotiated settlement. 
They have taken part in six rounds of talks. What was 
promised during the talks has not been implemented. So the 
LTTE has real suspicion about the present proposal. They 
feel it is difficult to overcome red tape and bureaucracy 
through the setting up of the apex body. So they think any 
tangible implementation on the ground has to be through a 
structure, which will give the LTTE a politico- 
administrative and decision making body where they would be 
allowed to play a dominant role. Therefore the proposals 
submitted by the Prime Minister do not in any way answer 
the demands of the LTTE. That falls very short of their 
thinking. 
Q: Many experts, including foreign diplomats say that peace 
cannot be achieved if the Tigers are so rigid. How do you 
view their statements? 
A: It is wrong to say that the Tigers are rigid in their 
demands. As I explained earlier, first of all the 
sufferings of the Tamil people have to be removed. That can 
only be achieved by restructuring and relocating the 
displaced people and rehabilitating them. It also includes 
rehabilitating the war torn north east. In this respect 
they need a very formidable and a very strong set up to 
administer the region. Their demand which is to alleviate 
the suffering of the people, cannot be considered as 
something that is rigid. 
Q: Why do you think the government is reluctant to give 
what the LTTE wants? 
A: Well I think it is because of the non-cooperation of the 
executive that the government is unable to fulfill the 
demands of the LTTE. The government feels that any interim 
administrative structure should be within the parameters of 
the constitution. But what I would like to remind the 
government is this. When the ceasefire agreement was signed 
between the government and the LTTE there was no basis for 
it within the laws of Sri Lanka. It was an extra 
constitutional instrument on which the country's peace has 
withstood for more than 15 months and it has laid a solid 
foundation for peace. Why can't the government apply the 
same process in formulating an interim administrative 
structure outside the constitution like the ceasefire 
agreement? 
 My personal opinion is that the Tamils are fully justified 
in asking for an extra constitutional interim mechanism to 
rebuild and rehabilitate the north east because they never 
accepted the constitution the Britishers left behind in 
1948, the 1972 constitution and the 1978 constitution which 
concentrated the legislative, financial and judicial 
affairs of the island in the hands of the majority of the 
country. Therefore I think the LTTE's demand in asking for 
a interim administrative structure is reasonable and 
justifiable, where they could play a dominant role 
politically, administratively and financially. 
Q: The general perception is that the LTTE would 
participate at tomorrow's donor conference. How do you see 
it? Do you think failure to participate would be 
disadvantageous to the LTTE? 
A: The LTTE's leadership in the latest reply to Prime 
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has clearly stated that if an 
assurance is given that a draft framework for an interim 
administrative structure along the lines proposed by the 
LTTE leadership is given by the Prime Minister they would 
resume negotiations. So the ball is now in the government's 
court. 
Until today the Prime Minister has not responded to the 
request made by the LTTE leadership. Therefore one can be 
convinced that their participation in the Tokyo conference 
is not possible. To answer the other question, this donor 
conference is not only for the rebuilding of the war torn 
north east region. This conference is also a part of the 
annual aid consortium for the government.  If the donor 
countries are really interested in rebuilding, 
rehabilitating and restructuring the war ravaged north 
eastern region I don't think there is any reason for them 
to not dole out funds for this humanitarian aspect whether 
the LTTE participates or not. Participation of the LTTE 
should not be taken as a primary concern for the donors not 
to dole out money for the humanitarian projects facing the 
war torn areas in the north east. 
End block quotes. 
 
 
----- 
3. GSL statements and pro-government reaction. 
----- 
Media sympathetic to the GSL offered predictably sunny 
Tokyo coverage.  Newspaper and television lead stories 
reiterated the government `s ability to secure and 
distribute aid money and noted the Prime Minister's plans 
for an interim administration. 
 
Independent and state-owned television stations reported 
Chief Negotiator for the Peace Process and Cabinet 
Spokesman G.L. Peiris' comments that there will be no 
change in the level of aid pledged to Sri Lanka, despite 
the Tigers' absence in Tokyo.  State-owned ITN television 
elucidated that aid levels will stay the same because the 
trust that international community has placed in the 
Government of Sri Lanka remains unchanged. 
 
Newspapers also focused on the money.  Independent English 
weekly SUNDAY TIMES headlined, "`We-can-spend' theme at 
Tokyo."  State-owned English weekly SUNDAY OBSERVER 
observed, "Aid pledges on track," while sister Sinhala 
weekly SILUMINA noted, "Comprehensive development plan for 
tomorrow's Tokyo confab - Funds to be disbursed for 
immediate projects."  Independent, but pro-UNP English 
weekly SUNDAY LEADER exclaimed, "PM to announce interim set 
up." 
 
Under the headline,"Hope," Government-owned English weekly 
SUNDAY OBSERVER's editors commented that despite the 
problems with the peace process, "the Tokyo donor parley 
signals progress." 
Block quotes: 
Most important is the fact that while the negotiating 
process is in suspense right now, the overall peace effort 
remains on track. Both parties have clearly and 
substantively demonstrated their complete lack of desire to 
resort to military action again to achieve their political 
goals. If the LTTE has been careful to make this clear to 
the whole world, the Government's own, positive, non- 
belligerent posture on the current impasse has demonstrated 
its own commitment to peace. 
That is why the Tokyo donor parley signals progress despite 
the current problem. Now, all efforts must be made towards 
fulfilling the requisites for overcoming the impasse. If 
the critical problem being raised by the LTTE leadership is 
their exclusion from certain aspects and activities of the 
peace process, then every step must be taken to ensure that 
such exclusion does not occur in the future. 
The setting up of an institutional mechanism that will 
structurally involve the LTTE in the post-war recovery 
process in the North-East will go far not only to ensure 
that organisation's continued participation in the 
negotiations but also to guarantee the re-integration of 
whole areas of the country that have been pushed outside 
the national mainstream by the war. 
End block quotes 
 
---- 
4. Opposition statements and pro-opposition reaction. 
----- 
Opposition newspapers led with cohabitation drama and Tokyo 
money headlines.  Editorial comment was typically dour and 
concentrated on the untrustworthiness of the LTTE. 
Independent, but nationalist-leaning English weekly ISLAND 
SUNDAY cried, "CBK snubs Japan: refuses statement backing 
confab," but softened the blow and placed "Mood in Tokyo 
optimistic: GL" alongside it.  Sister paper Sinhala DIVAINA 
headlined, "Confab promising 10,000 Kouti [100 lakhs] per 
annum is tomorrow." 
 
State-owned ITN television reported on a meeting between 
USAID Deputy Administrator Fred Schieck and opposition 
leader Mahinda Rajapakse, in which both men noted that 
Tokyo Conference aid could be used for development 
activities in the south as well as the north and east. 
--- Under the headline, "The doubt that will not down," the 
nationalist-leaning English weekly ISLAND SUNDAY's editors 
asked whether the LTTE "will use some of that money to 
further militarize for the ultimate putsch." 
Block quotes: 
If the LTTE calculated that their brinkmanship will result 
in the Tokyo meeting being postponed till such time as they 
were willing to talk turkey, they made a grievous error. As 
we have reported on our front page today, the mood in the 
Japanese capital was optimistic yesterday and there was 
reason to expect that they will not come down on any 
pledges they planned to make merely because Prabhakaran and 
Balasingham have played hard to get. Nevertheless, it must 
be freely conceded that there is no doubt that the LTTE's 
presence would have made a tangible difference certainly to 
the level of global confidence that the peace process is 
not just on track but heading in the right direction. The 
absence of one party must necessarily create doubts and 
that is the hard reality that we must swallow. It is to be 
hoped that Sri Lanka's foreign friends don't merely proffer 
carrots but also use some stick in Tokyo. The US has 
certainly been helpful up to now with Ambassador Ashley 
Wills being outspoken in much of what he has said in 
Colombo about Tiger behaviour. It's a pity that he is 
ending his assignment here shortly. Hopefully his successor 
will understand the situation as well as he has. 
Finally it must be said that if the kind of money that is 
being spoken about is obtained from the donor community, we 
have to get our act together in efficiently utilizing such 
resources. 
The LTTE certainly has a point that government's delivery 
of whatever has been on offer to the war devastated areas 
has been pathetically poor. We certainly have no doubt that 
given their summary methods ("shoot the rogues"), the 
Tigers will do a better job of getting the reconstruction 
and rehabilitation work done much more efficiently than the 
government. But the doubt that will not down is whether 
they will use some of that money to further militarize for 
the ultimate putsch. 
End block quotes. 
 
--- Sister paper DIVAINA's editorial headline, "Interim 
admin bait," asserts that the Tigers do not want funds "for 
the development of the north and east. it is for the 
benefit of a handful [of Tiger leaders]." 
 
Excerpts: 
 
"It is surprising that everybody is making such a 
tremendous effort to get the participation of a world's 
most brutal terrorist organization at the aid conference... 
How can they be treated on equal terms with a democratic 
government?  Will the monies be snatched by the Tigers who 
claim to be representing the marginalized Tamil communities 
in the north and east?  At the end of the day it is those 
who suffer who will have to pay back these debts... 
 
"The LTTE is shredding crocodile tears for the Tamils .but 
are not prepared to lay down their arms, to renounce 
terrorism. 
 
"Any wise person will realize that the Tigers have vested 
interests.  We know that Anton Balasingham is not working 
with genuine interest-he wants the money not for the 
development of the north and east.it is for the benefit of 
a handful of [Tiger leaders]." 
 
----- 
5. Independent media reaction 
----- 
Independent media coverage of Tokyo was skeptical.  A 
subheadline in independent Sinhala weekly LANKADEEPA's 
headline asked, "Are tigers getting ready for another 
fiasco after declaring non participation in the confab?" 
Editorial commentary exhorted the government to address the 
LTTE's integration into Sri Lankan politics and corruption. 
--- Under the editorial headline, "Tell It Like It Is," 
independent but pro-UNP English weekly SUNDAY LEADER 
pressed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to "go the 
whole hog" in his attempt to "genuinely to bring the Tigers 
into the mainstream of the Sri Lankan polity." 
Block quotes: 
Clearly, the rose which Wickremesinghe calls  an 'apex 
body' does not smell as sweet to Balasingham as an 'interim 
administration.' The nuance, though lost on the LTTE's 
Chief Negotiator, is not irrelevant. "In rejecting 
Wickremesinghe's elaborately-worded offer of an apex 
committee to oversee north east development, Balasingham 
did not mince his words. He pointed to the inefficiency and 
corruption of the administration in words that must have 
made the Premier wince. And the tragedy is, every word is 
true. 
If Wickremesinghe is serious in his attempt genuinely to 
bring the Tigers into the mainstream of the Sri Lankan 
polity, and not just play for time until the rebels are 
weak enough to demolish militarily (which they might 
justifiably suspect is his plan), he must match his words 
with action. The LTTE must be given incentives to join the 
political mainstream and involving them in an interim 
administration is the key to this. 
In its 2001 manifesto, the UNF promised an interim 
administration for the north and east. Now, Wickremesinghe 
is edging away from that ideal, talking about some nebulous 
committee. This will not do. At some point in a nation's 
history, statesmen, not political fudgers, have to take 
strong decisions. That's what leadership is about. Polls 
have shown that the overwhelming majority of Sri Lankans as 
a whole and the Tamils as a group, are in favour of a 
negotiated settlement.  It showed that over 90 per cent of 
Tamils were in favour of a federal solution. If that is not 
the surest message that the demand for a separate state is 
a thing of the past, what is? 
Wickremesinghe has committed the nation to peace, the 
welfare of the Tamil people, a negotiated settlement and 
the transfer of significant political authority to the 
LTTE. He must go the whole hog. 
Ranil Wickremesinghe must take the nation (including the 
LTTE) into his confidence. There is simply no point in 
elaborate wordplay and a deft euphemism: that will fool no 
one. Let's dispense with the committees and red tape and 
get down to business. Even if he can't do it, surely he can 
tell it like it is. 
End block quotes. 
 
--- Under the headline, "Get on with it," independent 
English weekly SUNDAY TIMES calls on the government to 
address both the LTTE and corruption, "the foreign monies 
pumped into the system must trickle down to as many 
ordinary people as possible if all this hullabaloo about 
the Tokyo 'aid' conference is to be meaningful to the 
ordinary folks at home." 
Block quotes: 
The LTTE has made a spectacle of itself to the 
international community. It has not been able to resolve 
the power-struggle between those who want a negotiated 
settlement, and the military-wing mandarins who see their 
own spheres of influence waning if there is a transition to 
peace. 
While the LTTE sorts itself out, however, the Government 
must keep an eye on its own defence mechanism. Irrespective 
of the LTTE's own idiosyncrasies of the moment, the 
Government must get on with it, and forge a coherent policy 
that concentrates on the economic development of the entire 
country. 
In this backdrop of events, the Government will need to be 
cautious that reeking corruption in high places and 
monopolies by a handful of people, who are siphoning their 
profits to bank accounts overseas, does not boomerang on 
itself by way of social disorder and revolution. 
And for now, there must be accelerate job creation through 
public investment projects; more ordinary people need more 
money in their hands- and all the foreign monies pumped 
into the system must trickle down to as many ordinary 
people as possible if all this hullabaloo about the Tokyo 
'aid' conference is to be meaningful to the ordinary folks 
at home, in the first place. 
End block quotes. 
 
AMSELEM