US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1344

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001344 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:   DECL: 08-01-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, MOPS, CE, NO, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  In discussion with Charge', Norwegian 
Ambassador reviews upcoming visit by Tigers to France 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1339, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Charge' 
d'Affaires. Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.   (C) The Charge' met August 1 with Norwegian 
Ambassador Hans Brattskar to discuss the latest news 
regarding Sri Lanka's peace process.  Concerning a 
recent camp put in place by the Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the east, Brattskar said there is 
no sign of movement on the issue.  (Note:  The Tigers 
have refused to vacate the camp, despite a ruling by the 
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, "SLMM," that its 
establishment violates the February 2002 ceasefire 
accord -- see Reftels.)  He added that there was some 
hope that LTTE political chief S.P. Thamilchelvam's 
ongoing visit to eastern Sri Lanka may presage some 
change in the Tigers' heretofore hard-line stance, but 
it was not yet clear.  Charge' asked that the Norwegian 
facilitators keep the U.S. apprised of the situation. 
 
2.  (C) With respect to the larger peace process 
picture, Brattskar had some interesting new information. 
According to his account, Thamilchelvam and a delegation 
of Tiger cadre plan to head to France within the next 
two weeks to attend a seminar on legal issues.  (Note: 
The issues under discussion at the seminar would involve 
the debate over the formation of a Tiger-dominated 
interim administration in the north/east, as well as 
federalism issues linked with a potential final 
settlement of the dispute.)  Brattskar confirmed that 
the French government had approved the Tigers' 
participation on July 31, after considerable internal 
debate.  The French agreed to host, he noted, when 
assured that the seminar would be run in a very low-key 
manner.  (Note:  Due to the French sensitivities, 
Brattskar asked that we keep their decision close-hold.) 
He said the Tigers were quite enthusiastic about the GoF 
decision, hoping that it indicated some sort of thawing 
in western countries' negative view of the LTTE.  (Note: 
Brattskar noted that the Canadian government, which had 
been approached to host the seminar, had decided not 
to.)  Brattskar added that it was not yet clear whether 
Tiger spokesman Anton Balasingham, who is based in 
London, would participate in any way in the seminar. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  The news re the controversial camp is 
still not what the Norwegians, the GSL, and virtually 
everyone else wants to hear, i.e., the LTTE has vacated 
the site.  The Tigers are being quite stubborn on the 
matter, so it is undoubtedly going to take some more 
time to resolve.  Concerning the seminar in France, 
Brattskar remarked that he thought it what was a genuine 
effort by the Tigers to learn more about 
constitutional/legal issues.  It is the case that the 
sum of Tiger expertise on such issues hovers around 
zero, which they readily admit.  End Comment. 
 
4. (U) Minimize considered. 
 
ENTWISTLE