GSL says court judgment convicting LTTE leader

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002055

SIPDIS

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

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11-01-2002
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS PHUM CE NO TH LTTE
SUBJECT: GSL says court judgment convicting LTTE leader
in 1996 terrorist attack will not impact peace track

Refs: Colombo 2047, and previous

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: A court has convicted LTTE leader V.
Prabhakaran in absentia of planning a 1996 terrorist
attack. The GSL has said the judgment will not affect
the peace process. The LTTE has not yet formally
reacted. The announcement came on the same day as GSL
and LTTE negotiators sat down to begin their second
round of talks. Based on initial soundings, the talks
seem to have gotten off to a positive start. With
Prabhakaran firmly ensconced in the jungle, the ruling
has little practical impact, but it does complicate
matters for the GSL in the long run. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Court Ruling on Prabhakaran
--------------


2. (U) In a widely publicized October 31 ruling, a Sri
Lanka trial court has convicted Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V. Prabhakaran in absentia of
planning a 1996 terrorist attack. The trial court judge
sentenced Prabhakaran to 200 years in prison and a
warrant was issued for his arrest. Three other low-
level LTTE operatives were found guilty and given hefty
sentences. Two of these three are currently in custody,
while the other is believed to be "absconding" in LTTE-
controlled areas. Pottu Aman, the LTTE intelligence
chief, and three others were acquitted. This is
believed to be the first time that Prabhakaran has been
convicted by a Sri Lankan court. (Note: Along with
other LTTE officials, Prabhakaran remains under
indictment in India for the May 1991 murder of Rajiv
Gandhi.)


3. (SBU) The case involved the January 31, 1996 bombing
of the Central Bank building in downtown Colombo which
killed 78 people. This attack was one of the most
brutal LTTE terrorist attacks in Colombo. (Note: As is
its pattern, the LTTE did not accept responsibility for
the blast, but the incident had all the hallmarks of a
LTTE attack and evidence eventually linked LTTE
operatives to the crime.) Indictments of Prabhakaran
and his LTTE associates were handed down in 1996.


4. (C) Against the backdrop of the peace process, it is
not clear why the trial court judge ruled on the case at
this time. Desmond Fernando, a well-known lawyer, told
us that the case has been "meandering through the
judicial process for years." Fernando speculated that
the judge who made the ruling, Sarath Ambepitiya, might
be against the peace process and trying to undermine it,
but he was not sure. "It would have been easy for the
judge to postpone his ruling in any case," Fernando
said.

--------------
GSL: No Impact on Peace Process
--------------


5. (SBU) The government was quick to announce that the
ruling would have no impact on the peace process.
Speaking in Thailand where he is participating in the
second round of peace talks with the LTTE (see Para 7),
G.L. Peiris, the Minister of Constitutional Affairs
(among other portfolios),said he could not discuss the
merits of the ruling itself. Peiris added, however,
that he was "of the firm view that the court's decision
would have no effect on the peace process."


6. (C) For its part, the LTTE did not have an immediate
response to the verdict. Gajendran Ponnambalam, a Tamil
National Alliance MP, told us that the LTTE might be
"annoyed" by the ruling, but he did not think the group
would opt out of the peace process over the issue.
Ponnambalam noted that the court decision may have
provoked some levity in the jungle bastions of the LTTE,
with some in the group thinking "if that is how the
court feels then by all means try and come to arrest
us!"

--------------
Talks seem off to Positive Start
--------------


7. (C) The announcement came on the same day
(October 31) as GSL and LTTE negotiators sat down to
begin their second round of talks in Thailand (see
Reftels). Based on initial soundings, the talks seem to
have gotten off to a positive start. G.L. Peiris said
the talks had been held in a "cordial and constructive"
atmosphere. According to press reports, the major focus
of the first day was ways to ease tensions between the
Tigers and the Muslim community in the east.
Ponnambalam said he had heard that the LTTE was
"satisfied" with how the first day went. The talks are
set to continue until Sunday, November 3, when they wrap
up with a late afternoon press conference.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) The ruling has little practical effect inasmuch
as Prabhakaran -- surrounded by 15-20,000 armed and
rabid supporters in jungle hideouts -- does not appear
to be a likely candidate for arrest. That said, there
is little doubt that the judgment complicates matters
for the government in the long run. The ruling, for
example, makes it even more difficult for the GSL to
deal directly with Prabhakaran in the course of the
peace process if it needed to -- and the LTTE leader
already verges on the radioactive because of his many
crimes. There are probably legal ways that the
government could act to quash the verdict or obviate it,
but these might provoke domestic opposition. The
government, thus, could be put in a fix if/when the time
comes that it needs Prabhakaran's imprimatur to seal
some sort of peace deal. END COMMENT.


9. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS