C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001399

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08-11-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS PREF CE NO FR LTTE
SUBJECT: Norwegian facilitator set to arrive to work on
LTTE base issue; Tigers get ready for Paris meeting

Refs: Colombo 1387, and previous

(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle,
Charge' d'Affaires. Reasons 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim
is slated to arrive in Sri Lanka on August 12. One key
purpose of his visit is to try to convince the Tigers to
vacate an unauthorized camp they have set up in the
east. In other peace process news, the Tigers are
getting ready for a seminar in Paris scheduled to begin
August 20. Solheim is known to have good links with the
Tigers, but settling the camp issue will be a tough sell
given the group's hard-line stance on the matter. END
SUMMARY.

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Solheim due in Sri Lanka
========================


2. (SBU) The Norwegian Embassy has confirmed that
Special Envoy Erik Solheim, a key player on the GoN
peace facilitation team, is due to arrive in Sri Lanka
on August 12. One key purpose of his visit, which is
slated to last several days, is to try to convince the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization to
vacate an unauthorized camp it has set up in Trincomalee
District in the east. In July, the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission (SLMM) had ruled that the "Wan Ela" camp was an
encroachment on GSL-controlled areas and thus a
violation of the February 2002 ceasefire accord. With
the LTTE adamantly refusing to vacate the site, the SLMM
washed its hands of the matter last week and referred it
to the Norwegian facilitators to resolve, thus setting
the stage for Solheim's visit. During his time in Sri
Lanka, Solheim is tentatively scheduled to travel to the
LTTE-controlled Vanni region in the north to meet with
S.P. Thamilchelvam, the group's political chief.
Solheim has met with Thamilchelvam on many occasions and
is said to have good rapport with him.

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More info on LTTE Camp
======================


3. (C) Regarding the camp, Mission checked with the
SLMM office in Trincomalee, which confirmed that as of
earlier today (August 11) the LTTE was still at the
site. SLMM Trincomalee chief Abdel Burkan confirmed
that his office will continue to run daily patrols in
the vicinity of the camp to check on the situation. Per
earlier remarks he has made to us (See Reftels), Burkan
said the roughly 15 LTTE inhabitants of the camp
remained friendly with the monitors. The camp was
small, about two soccer fields in size, and very
ramshackle with some huts, a tent, and a communications
antenna. Burkan estimated that the camp could be
dismantled quickly if the Tigers wanted to do so.


4. (C) Queried on whether he had heard of any other
LTTE camps encroaching on government areas, Burkan said
the monitors were examining one LTTE-occupied site which
seemed to be new. The site was located one/two
kilometers away from Wan Ela at a place called Uparu.
Whether the camp violated the ceasefire accord had not
yet been determined, he added. (Note: The Sri Lankan
military has told us that it thinks that, in addition to
Wan Ela, the LTTE may have established at least four
additional bases in the east in past months.)


==========================
Tigers get ready for Paris
==========================


5. (C) In other peace process developments, the Tigers
are getting ready for a seminar in Paris scheduled to
begin on August 20. The seminar, which is slated to
last approximately a week, will focus on
constitutional/legal issues. The seminar is also being
structured to help the LTTE decide on the nature of its
response to the GSL's recent proposal setting out
modalities of forming a Tiger-dominated interim
administration for the the north/east. Contacts in the
Tamil community have confirmed that the LTTE's
delegation will consist of approximately 20 people, 10
from the group and 10 representing pro-LTTE Tamils who
live in other countries. Thamilchelvam will lead the
delegation. The following names are also reportedly on
the delegation list:
-- Pulithevan (one name only), chief of the LTTE's Peace
Secretariat

SIPDIS

-- V. Rudrakumar, a pro-LTTE lawyer living in the U.S.

-- Dr. V.T. Thamilmaran, a law lecturer at Colombo
University with close LTTE links

-- J. Maheswaran, a pro-LTTE Tamil based in Australia
with significant experience on humanitarian assistance
issues


6. (SBU) There are reports that Thamilchelvam may meet
with Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's London-based chief
negotiator, somewhere in Europe before the Paris meeting
takes place. Balasingham, who has serious health
problems, apparently will not attend the Paris event
himself. In the meantime, the pro-LTTE website
"TamilNet" reported that Thamilchelvam spoke to a rally
in the Vanni on August 10. In his wide-ranging remarks,
Thamilchelvam made clear that the group was intent on
preparing a response to the GSL's north/east proposal,
indicating that the peace talks could resume if the
group's (as yet unidentified) counter-proposals were
accepted. He stated, in part:

"We would be ready to resume negotiations if the Sinhala
nation accepts our proposal for the interim
administration and follows the path of peace. We will
prepare and submit a proposal for an interim
administration that would essentially reflect the
aspirations and expectations of our
people...International legal experts and senior
academics will discuss the proposal before it is given
in final form. An interim administration is
indispensable to mend the war-shattered lives of our
people."

Aside from these basically upbeat remarks, Thamilchelvam
also made semi-threatening comments to the effect that
Tamils should be allowed to choose their own "destiny"
if the LTTE's counter-proposals were rejected by the
GSL. He also took the opportunity to get his licks in
against two long-standing targets of Tiger vituperation,
President Kumaratunga and the Sri Lankan military.
Dredging up the history of past military campaigns,
Thamilchelvam basically accused the president and the
army of being warmongers and anti-Tamil in intent.

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COMMENT
=======


7. (C) Of all of the Norwegian facilitators, Solheim is
known to have the best links with the Tigers. He has
dealt with them for years and knows the topmost LTTE
leaders as well as any outsider. Even with these
advantages, settling the camp issue will be a tough sell
for Solheim. The group has taken an increasingly hard-
line stance on the issue. Solheim will have to use all
of his many wiles to convince them that their stance is
self-defeating. As for Paris, the Tigers seem to want
to use the meeting in a genuine way to review legal
issues. Thamilchelvam, for one, appears to be going out
of his way to flag that the Tigers are taking the
government's proposal very seriously. END COMMENT.


8. (U) Minimize considered.

ENTWISTLE