In public statement, president's party flays

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 002142

SIPDIS

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

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11-18-02
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL KPAO EAID CE NO LTTE
SUBJECT: In public statement, president's party flays
GSL's handling of peace process and Norway's role

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 180355Z Nov 02

- (B) FBIS Reston Va DTG 160734Z Nov 02
- (C) Colombo 2133, and previous

(U) Classified by Ambassador E. Ashley Wills.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Kumaratunga's party, the
People's Alliance, has issued a public statement
excoriating the government's handling of the peace
process. The statement was also critical of the
Norwegian facilitation effort, and U.S. and UK
participation in the Oslo conference. Somewhat at odds
with the statement, the president's public stance on the
peace process has been relatively upbeat. Given the
strong support for the peace process among the public,
we do not see the PA statement as making a big impact,
but it could be a portent of attacks to come. Suggested
"if asked" press guidance is contained in Para 12. END
SUMMARY.

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Public Statement by the PA
--------------


2. (SBU) President Kumaratunga's party, the People's
Alliance (PA),issued a public statement late
November 15 harshly criticizing the government's
handling of the peace process. The statement also
criticized Norway's facilitation role. (Note: A copy
of the statement has been faxed to SA/INS.) The
statement was issued in the name of Sarath Amunugama,
the PA's media spokesman, but was almost certainly the
work of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a
close adviser to Kumaratunga. (Note: Kadirgamar
reviewed the statement line-by-line at a November 15
press conference called by the PA.) Key snippets from
the long and detailed statement included:

-- "The UNF (United National Front) and some
governments, notably the Norwegian, say that the talks
with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) are
proceeding in the right direction. In the opinion of
the People's Alliance, the direction of the talks is
right only for the LTTE."

-- "Recent actions of the LTTE demonstrate a clear trend
towards the consolidation of its authority in the
northern and eastern provinces...The LTTE has spoken
publicly of already having a standing navy, law courts,
police stations, banks, and other institutions...Those
actions appear to reflect the LTTE's intention to create
and dominate some kind of parallel governmental entity
in the north and east...which would lead inevitably to
the establishment of a separate state."

-- "The PA also views with concern the role currently
being played by the Norwegian government in the
negotiation process...Today, it appears to the people of
Sri Lanka that the role of the Norwegian government has
been unjustifiably enlarged and that it is no longer
visibly impartial...The Norwegian government seems more
concerned with arranging an outcome of the talks that
can be pronounced a `success' for the UNF and the LTTE
rather than with the long-term interests of Sri Lanka
and its people. The destiny of Sri Lanka is too
precious to be left to be determined by the UNF and the
LTTE under the supervision of the government of Norway."

-- "The prime minister and his negotiating team have not
yet, after eleven months of the current peace process,
thought it fit to inform the country, the president, and
the Parliament and perhaps even most of the cabinet, of
the policy framework which would form the basis for
negotiations."


3. (U) In its conclusion, the statement also made a
series of demands, including that the GSL insist that
the LTTE renounce the use of violence and accept
decommissioning of all of its weapons. The statement
also called for the government to do more public
briefing re its plans for the peace process, noting that
the PA planned to begin a process of "national
consultations." Finally, the statement demanded that
the government seek a "thorough revision" of the
February ceasefire accord, which was "being implemented
to the grave prejudice of the armed forces of Sri
Lanka."

--------------
Criticism of the U.S. and UK
--------------


4. (SBU) The PA statement was also critical of U.S. and
UK participation in the upcoming Oslo donors'
conference, stating:

"The PA is disturbed by the impending accommodation of
the LTTE, on a level of parity with the government of
Sri Lanka, at the forthcoming talks to be held in Oslo.
It is said that at these talks the governments of the
U.S. and the UK will be represented at a high political
level...The signal that will go out from Oslo is that,
notwithstanding resounding universal declarations that
terrorism must be resisted in all its manifestations,
terrorism will in fact be rewarded."

(Note: This aspect of the PA statement was also
mirrored in recent editorials in "The Island," a
strongly anti-LTTE, Sinhalese chauvinist daily. In
reference to Oslo, the editorials essentially charged
the U.S. and UK were soft toward the LTTE, while
asserting a hard-line policy toward other terrorist
groups, e.g., Al-Qaida. Meanwhile, in a clearly
erroneous report, one of the Sunday English-language
dailies, asserted on November 17 that the U.S. and UK
were thinking of legalizing the LTTE after the
conclusion of the Oslo conference. End Note.)

--------------
Kumaratunga's Recent Comments
--------------


5. (SBU) Somewhat at odds with her own party's
statement, the president's public stance on the peace
process has been relatively upbeat. In a wide-ranging
speech on November 12 commemorating her eighth year in
office, President Kumaratunga seemed to regard the GSL's
peace initiative in relatively benign fashion, stating:

"I am glad that the new government of the UNP (United
National Party) has taken action to carry forward the
peace process through a negotiated settlement...Measures
adopted in the last one year to reduce tension between
the antagonists seem to have progressed satisfactorily.
It is gladdening to note that the government has taken
serious note of my insistence on the necessity to engage
in a dialogue with the LTTE on the core issues..."

Kumaratunga was also relatively conciliatory regarding
the peace process during brief remarks on November 17 at
a ceremony honoring the visiting Croatian president (see
Ref A).

--------------
Reactions to the Statement
--------------


6. (C) The PA statement received considerable coverage
in the weekend press. At a late November 16 meeting
with the Ambassador and DCM, Milinda Moragoda, a key
minister involved in peace process issues, and Norwegian
Ambassador Jon Westborg both expressed considerable
concern about the PA statement. Moragoda indicated that
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe planned to respond in
public to the statement later this week. He added that
the PM planned to make a national address thoroughly
reviewing the government's peace initiative at some
point after the November 25 donors' conference in Oslo.
The normally unflappable Westborg, who was clearly a bit
stung by the PA statement, was not certain how his
government would respond. (Note: For his part,
Westborg also faced some biting personal criticism last
week. Citing press reporting on Westborg's comments at
a private meeting, some in the radical JVP party
asserted he had made light of the recent conviction of
LTTE leader Prabhakaran for a 1996 terrorist attack. In
response to the JVP's ludicrous charge, Westborg said he
had been misquoted.)


7. (C) The Ambassador, underscoring strong U.S. support
for the GoN role, told Moragoda and Westborg that he
thought that the statement was a cheap shot, mean-
spirited, and ill-timed. It was possible, the
Ambassador noted nevertheless, that the statement could
result in a net positive if the GSL shrewdly used it in
its discussions with the LTTE as a means to gain
concessions.


8. (C) In other soundings, Desmond Fernando, a human
rights lawyer with close links to the government, told
polchief that he thought that the PA statement was "very
unhelpful." Fernando added that he thought that the PA
was edging toward playing the same game that had
bedeviled past peace processes, i.e., the party out of
power playing the "Sinhalese card" in order to gain
popular support at the expense of the national interest
in communal harmony. Kedish Loganathan, an analyst at a
local think-tank, thought that the PA would be careful
not to go too far in their criticism because it would
not want to alienate the public, which was strongly pro-
peace process. In making this point, Loganathan took
note of President Kumaratunga's recent comments and the
fact that they were far more moderate in tone than the
PA statement itself.


9. (C) (((Note: Mission has not picked up any response
by the LTTE to the PA statement. The Tamil National
Alliance, which is generally pro-LTTE, rejected much of
the substance of the PA statement in a press release
dated November 17, specifically underscoring its strong
support for Norway's facilitation effort. End Note.)))

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


10. (C) The PA statement is on the mark in some ways,
e.g., the LTTE is indeed doing some very nasty things in
the north and east (see Ref C). That said, while it is
important to call attention to the LTTE's misdeeds,
there can be little doubt that the peace process is
Sri Lanka's best way forward. The thrust of the PA's
statement seems to call into question that basic
premise, however. The PA's attack is especially
unfortunate and ill-timed given the upcoming Oslo
conference and the slated start of the third round of
talks shortly thereafter. In addition, the criticism of
the Norwegians is extremely unfair, as is the glancing
blow at the U.S. and the UK. While the exact genesis of
the statement is difficult to discern, the PA is clearly
envious and resentful that the GSL is getting the credit
for the peace process, which it feels (correctly) that
it started eight years ago when Kumaratunga first took
power. We also guess that a "good cop, bad cop" routine
is going on here, with Kumaratunga keeping her hands
clean while she gives her party license to hit out
(there is little doubt that the statement would not have
been issued without the president's review and
approval).


11. (C) At this point, given the strong support for the
peace process among the body politic, we do not see the
PA statement as making a big impact, but it could be a
portent of attacks to come. The Ambassador will bring
up our concerns in upcoming meetings with Kumaratunga
and Kadirgamar. END COMMENT.
--------------
Suggested Press Guidance
--------------


12. (U) The following is suggested "if asked" press
guidance in case the Department is questioned re the PA
statement:

BEGIN TEXT:

"We have noted with dismay the November 15 statement
made by the People's Alliance (PA). The tone of the
statement is unduly harsh and corrosive with respect to
cohabitation between the major parties regarding the
peace process. The U.S. strongly believes that the Sri
Lankan government is moving the peace process in the
right direction, and we urge all concerned parties to
reinforce that effort and not try to undermine it. In
addition, some of the statement's charges are wildly
inaccurate. In particular, we take issue with the
statement's charges against the government of Norway.
We strongly believe that the Norwegian facilitation
effort is impartial, transparent, and nobly motivated.
In fact, we believe that Sri Lanka and the entire
international community owe Norway a debt of gratitude.

As regards the U.S., we reject the statement's implicit
assertion that we are somehow softening our approach to
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. At the upcoming
Oslo conference, no U.S. officials will be meeting with
the group and the LTTE will remain on the U.S. Foreign
Terrorist Organization (FTO) listing.

We remain deeply concerned by LTTE activities, and
continue to urge the LTTE to renounce terrorism and
violence publicly. The group should also make clear
once and for all that it has no intention whatsoever to
press for separatism. We also call on the LTTE to
respect human rights and democratic norms, and urge it
to accept Sri Lankan government sovereignty fully,
including the island-wide application of the nation's
constitution and its law enforcement system."

END TEXT.


13. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS