Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03COLOMBO1496
2003-08-27 11:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

President Kumaratunga and supporters express

Tags:  PGOV PTER PINS ASEC CE LTTE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001496 

SIPDIS

NOFORN

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR

E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08-27-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS ASEC CE LTTE
SUBJECT: President Kumaratunga and supporters express
concerns that the Tigers are targeting her for attack

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 260902 Aug 03
- (B) Colombo 1492, and previous
- (C) USDAO Colombo CE IIR 6 816 0078 03 (Notal)

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001496

SIPDIS

NOFORN

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR

E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08-27-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS ASEC CE LTTE
SUBJECT: President Kumaratunga and supporters express
concerns that the Tigers are targeting her for attack

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 260902 Aug 03
- (B) Colombo 1492, and previous
- (C) USDAO Colombo CE IIR 6 816 0078 03 (Notal)

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Kumaratunga and her
supporters have recently expressed concerns that the
Tamil Tigers are targeting her for attack. The police
have found little merit in the claims, which seem to
involve more than a dollop of politics. That said, the
situation has to be monitored; the president has been
attacked before and there is always a solid basis for
anxiety about Tiger intentions. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) KUMARATUNGA'S CONCERNS: President Kumaratunga
and her supporters have recently expressed concerns that
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are
targeting her for possible attack. The claims by the
president and her associates have been somewhat
convoluted, and have included the following strands:

-- In a recent letter filled with references to earlier
exchanges on security issues, the president criticized
the government and specifically the police for failing
to properly monitor her security. In the letter, which
was leaked to the press, the president told T.E.
Anandarajah, Sri Lanka's Inspector General of Police
(IGP),that she feared that LTTE cadre were watching her
movements and might try to assassinate her. The
president specifically mentioned that the government had
recently allowed Pulithevan, a high-level LTTE official,
to stay at Colombo's Hilton Hotel. She noted that this
hotel was located in a high-rise near the presidential
compound, thus providing the LTTE official with a
possible view of her movements. The president requested
the IGP to look into the situation and report back to
her. She said she was deeply dissatisfied with an
earlier police report into her concerns (see below).

-- Janadasa Peiris, one of the president's spokesmen,

was quoted as stating that the LTTE had possession "of
the latest small weapons of the world" (NFI) and was
planning to use them against the president.

-- Harim Peiris, another one of her spokesmen, was also
quoted as stating that the president was clearly on the
LTTE's "hit list." He went to blame the government for
failing to adequately protect her from the LTTE.


3. (C) POLICE FIND LITTLE MERIT IN CLAIMS: Based on
what we are hearing, there appears to be little merit in
the claims being made by the president and her
associates. V. Kanthasamy, a senior superintendent of
police, told us August 27 that the police had conducted
dozens of interviews and fully investigated the claim,
and passed the results back to the president. The
police had found no evidence that the LTTE was plotting
against her and had told her that in their report.
Kanthasamy said LTTE officials have indeed stayed at the
Hilton Hotel during the course of the peace process, but
there was no evidence that these officials, including
Pulithevan, wanted to attack the president. Kanthasamy
was not sure how the IGP would respond to the
president's latest missive, but he said the matter
remained under review.


4. (C) OBSERVERS SEE POLITICS: Mission has also spoken
to a number of observers who believe that the
president's claims appear to be politically inspired as
much as anything else. Kethesh Loganathan, an analyst
at the Center for Policy Alternatives, a well-regarded
local think-tank, told poloff August 27 that, in making
the claims regarding the LTTE, he thought the president
was "grasping for attention." As long as the peace
process went forward, Kethesh said he did not think
there was any imminent threat on her life. He noted
that the allegations regarding the Hilton were strange
ones in that LTTE officials have been staying at
Colombo's luxury hotels almost routinely since the
advent of the peace process, often booked into them by
the Norwegian facilitators, and there had never been any
indication that they were plotting an attack. Taranjit
Sandhu, the polchief at the Indian High Commission, told
polchief August 27 that he thought the president and her
supporters were trying to "gain sympathy" through her
claims and paint the GSL as being weak on the LTTE. He
noted that he had not heard of any recent threats by the
LTTE against the president, though the group continues
to criticize her and her party's more lukewarm
positioning on the peace process.


5. (C/NF) COMMENT: In spite of the concerns, the
president does not seem to be a near-term target of the
Tigers at this time, and -- despite cohabitation
stresses -- we believe the GSL is fully committed to
protecting the president. The situation has to be
closely monitored, however. The president has been
attacked by the LTTE before, losing an eye in a December
1999 attack in Colombo, and there is always a solid
basis for anxiety about Tiger intentions. Moreover, as
previously reported (see Ref C),LTTE cadre are freely
allowed access to the south now due to the February 2002
ceasefire accord, and they are believed to be involved
in widespread surveillance of government buildings and
leaders. (Note: See Ref B regarding LTTE surveillance
and Amcit issues.) END COMMENT.


6. Minimized considered.

ENTWISTLE