Peace process update: Tiger-Muslim talks said

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001619

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD; LONDON
FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09-04-12
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREF PHUM ECON EAID CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Peace process update: Tiger-Muslim talks said
to be constructive; IDP returns up; Cricket in Jaffna

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 020552Z Jun 02

- (B) Colombo 1584
- (C) Colombo 1371

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Charge d'Affaires.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) This update of Sri Lanka's peace process reviews
the following:

-- Tamil Tiger spokesman and Muslim leader reportedly
hold constructive meeting in London

-- GSL official meets with Tigers on development-related
issues

-- Recent incident in Jaffna pits students against
security forces

-- In sign of confidence in peace process, returns of
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) continue upward
trend

-- The flavor of the peace process: Famous Sri Lankan
cricket player gets warm welcome in Jaffna

====================================
London Talks reportedly constructive
====================================


2. (C) The September 3 meeting between Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) spokesman Anton Balasingham
and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem was
reportedly constructive. The talks took place in London
with Norway's facilitation. Tomas Stangeland, polchief
of the Norwegian Embassy, told us that based on what he
had picked up the meeting was a cordial one. He
confirmed that the two sides had discussed the nature of
Muslim representation at the face-to-face talks
scheduled to kickoff on September 16 in Thailand. The
LTTE agreed that Hakeem could participate in the first
round of talks on the GSL team and at subsequent rounds
as leader of a separate Muslim team.


3. (C) Comment: With the London meeting seeming to
have gone in a positive direction, LTTE-Muslim ties may
be on an upswing. The LTTE helped set a positive mood
for the talks when it recently moved several hardline,
anti-Muslim cadre out of their jobs in the east.
Regarding the Muslim role in talks, it is still not
clear how the Balasingham-Hakeem understanding will work
out. GSL contacts have been dubious about the notion of
a separate Muslim role, worried that it will make the
talks even more tangled and complex. End Comment.

--------------
GSL-LTTE meet on development-related issues
--------------


4. (SBU) In another important meeting involving the
Tigers, Bradman Weerakoon, the secretary to the PM, met
Thamil Chelvam, the LTTE's political chief, on
September 1. Jehan Perera, the head of a local think-
tank, told us that he had heard that Weerakoon had used
the meeting to probe the Tigers on what sort of
humanitarian assistance they needed in the areas they
control in the north and east. The discussion
reportedly focused on education and health, he remarked.


5. (SBU) According to press reports, Weerakoon, who
holds the GSL portfolio for north and east relief
issues, also visited a LTTE-run demining operation and
promised the Tigers that the government would do what it
could to assist the LTTE in this area. (Note: Demining
in LTTE-controlled areas has been a hot topic of late:
At an August 29 roundtable meeting hosted by the GSL for
donors, J. Maheswaran, the head of the pro-LTTE Tamil
Rehabilitation Organization -- "TRO," stressed that
international financial assistance was needed for such
demining. TRO, however, wanted local groups -- such as
itself -- to receive the funding and not international
groups, which TRO felt would only waste it. In his
across-the-table response, the Ambassador underscored
that international expertise was important and the
international community would be more willing to fund
demining if its experts remained involved. FYI:
Maheswaran was recently named a member of the LTTE's
negotiating team for the Thailand talks. End Note.)

6. (C) Comment: Weerakoon's meeting with the LTTE
seems to have provided a chance for both sides to do an
initial scrub of issues that will be discussed at the
face-to-face talks slated to begin later this month.
Milinda Moragoda, a key GSL minister on peace process
issues, has told us that this round of talks would
largely focus on development-related issues. Stangeland
of the Norwegian Embassy also told us that the Weerakoon
meeting was significant in that it was held without GoN
facilitation. This indicates growing trust between the
two sides, he noted. End Comment.

--------------
Incident in Jaffna
--------------


7. (SBU) A large group of Tamil grade school students
tried to overrun an Army post in the town of Point Pedro
in Jaffna on September 2. Several people were
reportedly lightly injured in scuffles before the police
took control of the situation. A number of bunkers and
other military positions were also damaged. The
students were apparently protesting the lack of access
by citizens to the Army-controlled site. In reaction to
the incident, the government has temporally closed two
schools in the Point Pedro area. The Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission continues to look into what took
place, urging that both sides act with restraint.


8. (C) Comment: Point Pedro is known to be full of
LTTE supporters (it is near Tiger leader Prabhakaran's
hometown) and sources believe that the LTTE instigated
the incident. The LTTE's apparent motivation was to
pressure the government into moving out of military
bases in the area. The group has bitterly complained
that military sites in the north and east are too
extensive and should be dramatically reduced in size.
End Comment.

--------------
IDP Returns Spike Up
--------------


9. (SBU) UNHCR reports that IDP returns have increased
in the past several weeks. According to its figures,
127,000 IDPs have returned to sites in the north and
east since the beginning of the year. This is an
increase in the July total of 103,000. (Note: There are
an estimated 700,000 IDPs left in Sri Lanka.)


10. (SBU) Comment: The IDP returns are a solid sign of
confidence in the peace process. The UNHCR has noted,
for example, that returns spiked right after the GSL and
LTTE agreed to a date certain for face-to-face talks
late last month. End Comment.

--------------
Famous Cricket Player visits Jaffna
--------------


11. (U) Muttiah Muralitharan, a world-class cricket
player, and two other members of Sri Lanka's national
team, visited Jaffna town on August 31. Muralitharan
and his teammates participated in a cricket match along
with local players. A huge crowd turned out for the
match, mainly to see Muralitharan, one of the world's
best bowlers. LTTE cadre present for the occasion
warmly welcomed Muralitharan, who as a Tamil who made it
big is a folk hero of sorts in Jaffna.

12. (SBU) Comment: Muralitharan's highly publicized
visit was another example of the huge expansion in
people-to-people ties between northern and southern Sri
Lanka that has taken place during the ongoing ceasefire.
The growth of such ties -- in addition to progress made
on political, ceasefire-related issues -- has played a
crucial role in buoying the public's confidence in the
peace process. (Note: Other examples of these people-
to-people ties include: the "peace" train linking
Colombo with sites to its north; reciprocal visits of
students and business delegations; the opening of
religious pilgrimage sites, etc.) End Comment.


13. (U) Minimize considered.
AMSELEM