US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1034

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001034 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:   DECL:  06-13-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Reports continue to flow in linking the Tigers 
to violence against Tamil opponents 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1029 (Notal), and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador E. Ashley Wills. 
Reasons:  1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Reports continue to flow in linking 
the Tigers to violence against Tamil opponents.  In 
addition to over 20 killings in recent months, the 
latest incidents involve the slayings of two Tamils in 
the east.  The GSL is having problems proving Tiger 
involvement, though it may have garnered a break when it 
captured two suspected Tigers this week.  The killings 
have contributed to a growing sense of unease about the 
Tigers.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) MORE KILLINGS:  Reports continue to flow in 
linking the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 
organization to violence against Tamil opponents.  The 
latest incidents include the slayings of two anti-LTTE 
Tamils in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province.  In the first 
incident, a former member of the Eelam People's 
Democratic Party (EPDP) was shot and killed on June 7 
outside of Trincomalee town.  In the second incident, a 
former member of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization 
(TELO) and his young child were killed in a hand grenade 
explosion on June 6 near Batticaloa town. 
 
3.  (C) These latest killings come on top of those of 
about 20 anti-LTTE Tamils since the start of the year 
(see Reftels).  The victims have been divided into two 
broad categories:  (1) Members or former activists of 
anti-LTTE parties (such as the victims in the two most 
recent killings); and, (2) Tamils who work or formerly 
worked as informants for Sri Lanka's military. 
 
4.  (C) PROVING LTTE INVOLVEMENT DIFFICULT:  As with 
virtually all of the previous killings, no one has been 
arrested in the latest incidents.  The wave of attacks 
have been extremely well-planned with the perpetrators 
often driving quickly away in vehicles and melting away 
after that.  Contacts in the government and other 
observers, however, universally believe that the LTTE is 
to blame.  In a June 12 conversation, for example, 
Taranjit Sandhu, Indian High Commission polchief, told 
us that the incidents have all the hallmarks of LTTE 
targeted assassinations.  Sandhu also noted the obvious 
fact that those who have been killed are or were anti- 
LTTE activists, making the Tigers the party that would 
feel it had the most to gain by employing such terror 
tactics.  Sandhu went on to note unconfirmed reports 
circulating in the north and east that LTTE leader V. 
Prabhakaran has actually issued written instructions for 
anti-Tiger Tamils to be killed. 
 
5.  (C) For its part, the LTTE has denied it is involved 
in the killings.  These claims have been echoed by pro- 
Tiger politicians.  In a recent meeting with the 
Ambassador, for example, Kumar Ponnambalam, a MP for the 
Tamil National Alliance with close LTTE associations, 
was adamant that there was absolutely no evidence 
linking the LTTE to the crimes. 
 
6.  (C) A BREAK?:  The GSL might have garnered a break 
in their efforts to prove the Tigers' involvement in the 
killings.  As first reported in Reftels, two suspected 
LTTE cadre were stopped during a random police check in 
central Colombo on the evening of June 10.  The two men 
who were armed tried to run away, but were captured, with 
one of them swallowing a cyanide tablet.  The two men are 
now in custody, with the one who took cyanide in critical 
condition in a hospital.  Government officials have told 
us that they believe that the two suspected cadre were 
apparently on their way to try to assassinate a Tamil 
informant for the military when they were intercepted. 
At this point, interrogation of the one healthy suspect 
is continuing, with the government relatively sure that 
it has netted its first big breakthrough regarding the 
recent spate of killings. 
 
7.  (C) (((Note:  Shortly after the two suspects were 
captured on June 10, two policemen were captured by the 
LTTE in the Trincomalee area.  The LTTE has announced 
that it is holding the two policemen captive until the 
GSL releases a LTTE cadre who is now in jail.  There was 
some initial speculation that the LTTE might be holding 
the two policemen in exchange for the LTTE suspects 
arrested in Colombo, but this has not yet panned out. 
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is looking into the 
matter and is trying to arrange a meeting with the LTTE 
to discuss it.))) 
 
8.  (C) COMMENT:  While the government tries to catch 
the perpetrators of the killings, there is little doubt 
that the LTTE is the culprit.  As noted, the attacks 
have all the hallmarks of LTTE operations, including -- 
as with the June 10 incident -- the use of cyanide by an 
operative who is captured.  In addition to the LTTE's 
increasingly shrill communications turning down offers 
to restart the peace talks, the recent killings have 
contributed mightily to a growing sense of unease about 
the Tigers and their intentions.  END COMMENT. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS