GSL tries to calm situation after sinking of

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001061

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06-17-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS CE JA NO LTTE
SUBJECT: GSL tries to calm situation after sinking of
Tiger ship; Key minister expresses concerns re navy

Refs: (A) Ops Center-Colombo 06/16/03 telecon

- (B) Colombo 1053, and previous

(U) Classified by Joseph L. Novak, Charge d'Affaires.
Reasons: 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In the aftermath of the June 14
sinking of a Tiger ship, the GSL is trying to calm the
situation, assuring the Tigers that it is looking into
ways to devolve power to the north/east. Minister
Moragoda, a key adviser to the PM, has expressed deep
concerns to us about the navy's handling of the
incident. The Tigers remain very, very sore over the
sinking of their ship. Despite the GSL's best efforts,
a bit of tension remains in the air. END SUMMARY.

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GSL Reaches Out
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2. (SBU) In the aftermath of the sinking of a
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ship on June 14,
the GSL is trying to calm the situation. (Note: Per
Ref B, the ship sank off the northeast coast during a
confrontation with the Sri Lankan Navy, "SLN," and
all 12 of its crew are believed dead. It remains
unclear whether the crew of the ship detonated it or
whether it was sunk by SLN gunfire. The SLN insists
that the Tigers destroyed the ship.) In response to a
question at a June 16 press conference, G.L. Peiris, a
minister and the GSL's key peace process negotiator,
said the June 14 incident did not increase the risk of
war because the LTTE had promised it would not go down
that route again. Peiris added that the Norwegian-run
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was looking into the
incident and would report on ways to avoid similar
incidents in the future.


3. (SBU) Regarding the peace process in general, Peiris
related that the government was putting together new
proposals in an effort to break the ongoing stalemate.
(Note: The LTTE pulled out of the peace talks in late
April and refused to attend the recent Tokyo donors
conference. The LTTE is demanding the immediate
formation of an interim structure in the north/east,
which it would basically control.) Peiris said the
government was thinking of recommending the formation of
"district development committees" in the handful of
districts comprising the north/east. These committees
-- perhaps acting in conjunction with "special
commissioners" -- would be empowered to distribute
assistance, including some of that garnered from the
international community at the recent Tokyo conference.
Peiris remarked that these proposals would take some
more time to formulate. The GSL hoped, however, to meet
face-to-face with the LTTE soon to discuss them -- "It
is necessary that the parties talk to each other to
carry the process forward," he said. He stressed that
the proposals, if agreed to, would be only "temporary
measures" subject to further GSL-LTTE discussions re
forming some sort of interim arrangement in the
north/east.


4. (SBU) (((Note: At the press conference, Peiris was
also asked about the recent assassination in Jaffna of
an anti-LTTE Tamil politician. Peiris said the police
were investigating the incident and it would be handled
as a criminal matter. Per Ref B, the Jaffna slaying was
perhaps the most brazen of about 30 similar killings
which have taken place this year. The killings are
almost certainly being perpetrated by the LTTE. End
Note.)))

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Key Minister's Concerns re Navy
--------------


5. (C) In his comments on the ship incident, Milinda
Moragoda, another key minister working on peace process
issues, told the Ambassador late June 16 that he had
deep concerns about the navy's handling of the matter.
Moragoda said as far as he understood the SLN had failed
to keep the SLMM fully informed of its actions.
Moreover, the SLN had not placed a monitor on board its
ships before commencing the operation, which should have
been standard procedure during the cease-fire.


6. (C) In parenthetical remarks, Moragoda said he also
had serious worries about command-and-control issues
related to the navy. The government, for example, was
not informed of the SLN's actions on June 14. There was
some indication, Moragoda continued, that the SLN had
briefed President Kumaratunga, but Prime Minister
Wickremesinghe was not kept in the loop. (Note:
Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe share a tense
cohabitation relationship.) Admiral Sandagiri, the
commander of the navy who was in Hawaii for meetings at
CINCPAC, had also apparently been informed of what was
transpiring. Moragoda noted that the SLN had also not
been fully in touch with the government re its
activities during a previous incident in March in which
a LTTE boat was sunk in similar circumstances. Moragoda
was not clear whether the GSL planned to take action
against the navy in this instance, but he indicated that
the government was looking into the matter.

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Tigers Remain Angry
--------------


7. (C) As for the LTTE, the group has had no further
comments re the sinking of its ship since its June 15
letter to the SLMM. (Note: In the letter, the LTTE
complained in harsh tones about the SLN's actions in
intercepting the LTTE's ship, which the group said was
only an "oil tanker" -- See Ref B.) In a June 17
conversation, however, Joseph Pararajahsingham, a MP for
the Tamil National Alliance with very close LTTE links,
told us that the group remained "extremely angry with
the navy over the sinking of the ship."
Pararajahsingham said the LTTE felt that the sinking was
"totally uncalled for" and a clear violation of the
February 2002 ceasefire agreement. When asked,
Pararajahsingham was not clear what the LTTE might do in
response, but he said the group was still committed to
the peace process. Queried about Peiris' comments, he
replied that the idea for "district development
committees" was an old one and he doubted the Tigers had
any interest in discussing the matter.


8. (C) (((Note: In his comments to the Ambassador,
Moragoda noted that the Norwegian government
facilitators were having no luck enticing the Tigers
back to the peace talks. Moragoda said Anton
Balasingham, the LTTE's London-based chief negotiator,
remained virtually incommunicado. In the meantime,
Mission has been told by Japanese embassy sources that
the GoJ has also been unable to arrange meetings with
the LTTE in order to brief the group on what happened at
the Tokyo conference. End Note.)))

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COMMENT
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9. (C) In his June 16 comments, Peiris was clearly
trying to calm things down. Based on what we are
hearing, however, his remarks did not mollify the
Tigers, who remain very, very disturbed over the attack
on their ship and the apparent loss of their personnel.
It is still unclear whether the group plans to take some
sort of action to make its displeasure felt beyond its
complaint to the monitors about the navy. Until the
Tigers' precise course of action is clear, however, some
tension will remain in the air.

10. (C) As for Moragoda's comments, the apparent
failure of the navy to bring the matter to the attention
of the government represents a real breach in civilian
control of the armed forces. One would think the prime
minister would have to react to such a snub, but his
situation is a tricky one and a dressing down of the
navy is quite possibly something he might choose to
avoid. END COMMENT.


11. (U) Minimize considered.

NOVAK