US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1222

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001222 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  07-14-13 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, PINS, PHUM, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Charge's Jaffna visit reveals changing 
attitudes towards military and the Tigers 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1190, and previous 
 
U) Classified by Donald A. Camp, Charge d'Affaires. 
Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Charge and poloff visited Jaffna, in 
northern Sri Lanka, July 6-8.  Demining, high security 
zones, and LTTE taxation are all high in the minds of 
local residents.  Business activity is up, funded by 
remittances from abroad and international NGOs.  GSL 
has funded infrastructure restoration, especially 
electricity and some buildings, but little in housing 
and rehabilitation.  Popularity of LTTE is hard to 
gauge; its arbitrary taxation is cited as one impediment 
to investment in Jaffna.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) JAFFNA BY ROAD:  Charge and poloff visited 
Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, July 6-8.  Charge and 
poloff traveled up Route A9, the north-south highway 
through the LTTE-held Vanni.  While the trip was mostly 
uneventful, the level of infrastructure (LTTE-run 
courts, police stations, customs checkpoints, "Bank of 
Tamil Eelam") in the LTTE-controlled areas was 
impressive.  This extended even to the Tamil Eelam 
police force, which - as we discovered the hard way - 
has radar guns and conducts regular speed traps.  Also 
of interest was the Asian Development Bank-sponsored 
road reconstruction project on the A9, which is 
reportedly staffed mostly by Sinhalese laborers because 
of what is said to be a labor shortage in the Vanni, 
underscoring the changes in that region in recent times. 
 
3.  (C) GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES CITE BASIC NEEDS: 
In meetings with the Government Agent (GA) and a 
representative of a Tamil political party, a message of 
optimism tinged with uncertainty came across.  The GA 
for Jaffna, C. Pathmanathan, noted to Charge that while 
limited amounts of assistance for rehabilitation was 
trickling in to Jaffna, little was coming from the 
government and much more needed to be done.  Citing 
difficulties and frustration with GSL bureaucracy, the 
GA noted that only a fraction of returning Internally 
Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees had been paid the 
assistance packages they were promised from the 
government. 
 
4.  (C) Charge also met with S. Sivajilingam, Tamil Eelam 
Liberation Organization (TELO) MP for Jaffna.  While 
Sivajalingam described himself as "confident" regarding 
a solution of a GSL proposal for interim administration 
in the north and east, he cited the possibility of 
dissolution of Parliament by President Kumaratunga and 
elections.  Sivajalingam further noted that certain 
"ground realities" would have to be faced by both the 
GSL and the LTTE, such as the hiring of Tamil - or at 
least Tamil-speaking- police officers in the north to 
avoid misunderstandings that could lead to violence. 
Since very few Tamil-speakers are now being recruited 
nation-wide into the police and military, there is a 
real problem of communication between the Jaffna public 
and the security forces. 
 
5.  (C) IDP SITUATION EXACERBATED BY SECURITY ZONES, 
LANDMINES:  We visited a community of 300 homeless 
persons who have been squatting in deserted buildings 
for 13 years.  (It would be too generous to call it an 
IDP camp.)  The residents expressed their frustration 
and anger at being kept from their homes, located in an 
are occupied by the Sri Lanka Army as part of a broad 
security cordon around their bases.  (As previously 
reported, the issue of the so-called "High Security 
Zones" continues to be contentious.)  The camp has eight 
toilets and two wells, and is situated 200 yards from a 
minefield.  The residents said that the LTTE had given 
them assistance, but the GSL- through the GA's office- 
had promised them assistance, but never followed 
through.  Residents of the camp saw the members of the 
Sri Lanka Army as not a benevolent force providing 
control, but rather as aggressors and usurpers of their 
rightful homes.  Pleading for assistance from the 
delegation, the residents of the camp underscored the 
need for assistance of any kind, even something so basic 
as plastic sheeting to supplement their palm-leaf roofs. 
 
6.  (C) Landmines continue to pose a major problem in 
the north, especially for individuals who wish to return 
to their homes or cultivate their fields.  Even a few 
blocks of Jaffna town remain cordoned off with uncleared 
mines.  Charge visited the State Department-sponsored 
QRDF site east of Jaffna town.  Underscoring the 
importance of mine clearance activities, all contacts we 
met with on this trip brought up the need for active 
demining efforts in Jaffna.  Currently, GSL and 
international NGOs estimate that there are between one 
and two million landmines throughout Sri Lanka, with the 
highest concentration in the north.  With the departure 
of the QRDF team shortly, the USG will no longer be 
demining directly, but the Department will shortly sign 
a contract for extensive training and equipment for Sri 
Lankan military deminers. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  In Post's regular visits to Jaffna, 
signs of change are starting to appear.  People are 
hoping desperately for a peace settlement that will 
assure that conflict will not return and they can 
continue the slow process of a return to normalcy.   The 
LTTE's behind-the-scenes influence continues to be a 
problem - for government servants whose activities are 
constrained, for businesspeople who have a significantly 
higher cost of business from arbitary taxation, and even 
for booklovers and sports fans, whose library and 
renovated stadium are on hold until the LTTE approves. 
Despite all these obstacles, we saw a sense of optimism 
among many in Jaffna and a feeling that Jaffna's 
traditional resiliency will see them through. END 
COMMENT. 
 
CAMP