Biographic sketches of new members of LTTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002007

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10-28-12
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINR CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Biographic sketches of new members of LTTE
negotiating team slated to attend upcoming talks

Ref: Colombo 1682

(U) Classified by W. Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) Para three contains brief biographic sketches of
two new members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) negotiating team. (Note: The second round of
peace talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan
government is scheduled to take place in Thailand from
October 31 - November 3.) The two new members of the
LTTE team are: S.P. Thamilchelvam, the chief of the
LTTE's political wing; and Colonel V. Karuna, an
important LTTE military commander. (Note: See Reftel
for bio-data on the other members of the LTTE team:
Anton Balasingham, the head of delegation and LTTE
spokesman; Adele Balasingham, the secretary for the team
and spouse of Anton Balasingham; J. Maheswaran, a
development expert; and V. Rudrakumar, a LTTE legal
adviser based in the U.S.)


2. (C) Para four also contains bio-data on V.
Balakumaran, who was recently selected by the LTTE to
serve as its principal representative on the GSL-LTTE
Joint Task Force on humanitarian issues.


3. (C) Brief biographic sketches of the two new LTTE
delegation members follow:

-- S.P. Thamilchelvam, age approximately 38, is head of
the LTTE's political wing. Thamilchelvam is the LTTE
official most often in the press explaining the group's
positions (aside from the LTTE's official spokesman,
Anton Balasingham). Since the advent of the peace
process, he has often been on local and international
TV, and has been a key interlocutor with the Norwegian
government peace facilitation team. In interviews, he
is soft-spoken, often flashing his trademark (and
somewhat unnerving) toothy grin. In his current
position, Thamilchelvam is said to work very closely
with LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran.

Before joining the political wing, Thamilchelvam served
in the LTTE's military wing in Jaffna, reportedly
fighting in many battles against Sri Lankan security
forces, as well against the Indian Peacekeeping Force
(IPKF). In fighting against GSL forces near the Jaffna
town of Chavakachcheri in 1994, he suffered a serious
leg injury, and he still walks with a limp and the
assistance of a cane. Thamilchelvam is said to have
been close to Mahattaya, a top LTTE official who was
killed in the early 1990s after coming into conflict
with Prabhakaran.

Thamilchelvam is from Mavattapuram near Jaffna town. He
attended high school at Union College in Tellippalai,
Jaffna. As is the case with many LTTE leaders,
including Prabhakaran, he is from a lower caste within
the Hindu community. (Note: The name of the caste is
"Ambattar," which was traditionally for barbers.) He
speaks Tamil, and some English and Sinhalese.

-- Colonel V. Karuna, approximately 35, is an important
LTTE military commander, now serving the group as its
military chief in Ampara and Batticaloa Districts in the
Eastern province. In addition to Paduman, the military
chief in Trincomalee, Karuna is the most senior LTTE
official in the east and apparently the most senior
eastern Tamil in the group's hierarchy. Although he has
not been involved in the Norwegian facilitation talks
before, he has dealt extensively with the Norwegian-run
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). Observers say
Karuna has been included on the LTTE's negotiating team
to ensure that the eastern Tamil perspective is heard.
Unlike his recently sidelined colleague, Karikalan (one
name only),the former political chief in the
Batticaloa/Ampara sector, Karuna is not said to be
viscerally anti-Muslim. In the early 1980s, Karuna
reportedly received military training in India sponsored
by RAW, the Indian intelligence organization. He is
from the town of Kiran in Batticaloa District. He
attended high school at Batticaloa Central College.
Aside from Tamil, he reportedly speaks adequate English
and broken Sinhalese.


4. (C) Bio-data on V. Balakumaran, the LTTE's choice as
its head representative on the JTF, follows:

-- Velupillai Balakumaran (alias "Banku Bala"),age
roughly 45, is said to be a close associate of
Prabhakaran on political issues. He has been working on
humanitarian-related issues for the LTTE off-and-on for
the past decade, which is apparently why he was chosen
for the JTF position. A longtime militant, he helped
form a group called EROS (Eelam Revolutionary
Organization) in 1975. The group was Marxist-Leninist
in ideology. In 1990, when EROS split into two, one
group led by Balakumaran joined the LTTE. Balakumaran
reportedly received training in India and also
reportedly trained with Prabhakaran himself in the mid-
1970s at a Tamil militant camp near Vavuniya town in
north-central Sri Lanka. He is reportedly relatively
well-educated and well-traveled for a LTTE official. He
is from Jaffna.


5. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS