US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1107

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001107 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  06-24-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, PREF, CE, NO, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  In wake of brazen killing, Tigers indicate 
they may want to restart peace talks 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo-SA/INS 6-24-03 unclass email 
 
-      (B) Colombo 1092, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Donald Camp, Charge d'Affaires. 
Reasons:  1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  After a meeting in London with the 
Norwegian facilitators, the Tamil Tigers -- in hedged 
fashion -- have indicated that they may be willing to 
restart the peace talks.  This news comes in the wake of 
the brazen killing of a police official on June 23, 
which was almost certainly perpetrated by the Tigers. 
Given the problems the peace process has had of late, 
the news that the Tigers may want to restart the talks 
is a positive development.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) TIGER ANNOUNCEMENT:  In a seeming softening of 
its previous hard-line stance, the Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization has indicated that it 
may be willing to restart peace talks with the Sri 
Lankan government.  (Note:  Citing various concerns, the 
Tamil Tigers pulled out of the talks in late April -- 
See Ref B.)  In comments posted by the pro-LTTE website 
"TamilNet" late June 23, Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's 
London-based spokesman, was cited as indicating that the 
peace talks "will" resume "soon."  (Note:  The TamilNet 
article is contained in Ref A.)  In remarks that seemed 
to set conditions for the recommencement of the talks in 
line with recent Tiger positioning, however, Balasingham 
was also cited as stating:  "If a concrete set of 
proposals are presented the LTTE will study the 
framework and suggest improvements.  Thereafter, the 
parties could enter into negotiations to formalize and 
finalize the envisaged interim administration."  In the 
TamilNet piece, Balasingham also stated that his June 23 
meeting with a Norwegian government facilitation team 
led by Special Envoy Erik Solheim had been "positive" 
and "constructive." 
 
3.  (C) NORWEGIAN REACTION:  Queried about the TamilNet 
report, Tomas Stangeland, polchief at the Norwegian 
Embassy, told us that he had spoken with Special Envoy 
Solheim who confirmed that the meeting with Balasingham 
had gone well.  Stangeland said the Norwegian team 
planned to brief GSL officials visiting London about the 
meeting and decide on next steps after that.  (Note: 
Several high-level ministers involved in peace process 
issues, including G.L. Peiris and Milinda Moragoda, are 
in London with PM Wickremesinghe -- See Ref B.) 
Overall, Stangeland said the TamilNet report seemed to 
indicate a "softening" in the Tigers' views.  That said, 
Stangeland noted that Balasingham had seemed to hedge 
his comments about restarting the talks, indicating that 
the LTTE wanted to see "concrete" plans from the GSL re 
the setting up an interim structure in the north/east 
before making a commitment. 
 
4.  (SBU) BRAZEN SLAYING:  Amid the seemingly positive 
news contained in the TamilNet report, the brazen 
killing of a police officer in the Colombo area on 
June 23 was a down note for the peace track.  As with 
numerous other killings that have taken place in 
Sri Lanka of late, the crime was almost certainly 
perpetrated by the Tigers. 
 
5.  (SBU) The details of the June 23 killing were 
gruesome.  According to various reports, the police 
inspector, Sunil Thabrew, 40, was shot and killed inside 
a police compound in the city of Dehiwela, which is 
approximately ten kilometers south of Colombo.  The 
suspected perpetrator of the killing, Sellathurai 
Kirubakaran, was quickly nabbed at a nearby police 
checkpoint.  The suspect tried to commit suicide by 
taking a cyanide capsule, but was unsuccessful and is 
now under police custody.  Police believe the suspect, 
who is Tamil, was an operative of the LTTE.  They think 
that Thabrew, the police official, was targeted because 
he had been investigating the killing of Tamil 
informants working for Sri Lanka's military.  (Note: 
Since early this year, there have been over 30 killings 
of Tamil opponents of the LTTE -- See Ref B.  The most 
notorious of these slayings occurred on June 14 when a 
high-level anti-LTTE Tamil politician was gunned down in 
Jaffna.  There are reports that another anti-LTTE Tamil 
was killed in the east on June 23.  Unlike the previous 
victims, however, Thabrew, the police officer killed on 
June 23, is believed to have been a Sinhalese Buddhist.) 
 
6.  (C) The general reaction to the killing of Thabrew 
was one of shock and horror.  There was copious press 
coverage of the incident with colored photos of the 
bloodied victim splashed across the front pages of local 
newspapers.  As is their style, the Tigers did not 
comment on the attack, although TamilNet had a brief 
article on the incident.  In a June 24 conversation, 
Kumar Ponnambalam, a Tamil National Alliance MP, told us 
that he did not think the LTTE had anything to do with 
it, though he agreed that the matter needed thorough 
investigation.  (Note:  Ponnambalam, who is close to the 
Tigers, has consistently maintained that the LTTE is not 
involved in the recent spate of killings.)  Indian High 
Commission polchief Taranjit Sandhu told us that he had 
no doubt that the LTTE was responsible for what 
happened, especially given the victim's involvement in 
investigations of previous killings.  Sandhu also noted 
that the taking of a cyanide capsule as was done by the 
suspect was part of the Tigers' modus operandi. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  Given the problems the peace process 
has had of late, the news that the Tigers may want to 
restart the peace talks is a positive development. 
Nonetheless, our guess is that it will still take some 
work by the Norwegian facilitators to find out whether 
or not the group is really serious.  As for the latest 
killing, the incident was the most shocking of the many 
that came before it.  As the victim was a police 
official and the crime took place in the Colombo area, a 
lot of hackles are being raised, with many observers 
wondering whether it is worth trying to do business with 
the Tigers.  This, no doubt, will put added pressure on 
the GSL as it tries to re-engage the LTTE.   END 
COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
CAMP