Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03COLOMBO1615
2003-09-14 02:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

Cohabitation dustup over security of key port

Tags:  PGOV PTER MOPS PINS 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 03 COLOMBO 001615 

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09-16-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS PINS CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Cohabitation dustup over security of key port
intensifies as President sends nasty letter to PM

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 140259Z Sep 03
- (B) Colombo 1606, and previous

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b, d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001615

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09-16-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS PINS CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Cohabitation dustup over security of key port
intensifies as President sends nasty letter to PM

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 140259Z Sep 03
- (B) Colombo 1606, and previous

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Kumaratunga has sent a
letter to the prime minister harshly complaining that
the GSL is not taking Tamil Tiger military positioning
around Trincomalee harbor seriously enough. The PM has
not yet sent a response to the widely publicized letter,
but the GSL has already denied that Trincomalee is in
imminent danger. Most observers believe that there is
little merit in the president's charges, but the latest
dustup is straining already tense cohabitation ties.
END SUMMARY.

==================
President's Rocket
==================


2. (SBU) President Kumaratunga has sent a harsh letter
to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe complaining that the
GSL is not taking Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
military positioning around Trincomalee harbor in the
east seriously enough. The letter, which is quite long
and detailed, was sent to the prime minister over the
September 13-14 weekend and then leaked to the press,
receiving widespread publicity in September 16
newspapers. In sending the letter, the president was
essentially echoing recent attacks made on the
government by members of her People's Alliance (PA)
party, including by former foreign minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar. The president made the following key points
in the letter:

-- The president stated that the military had determined
that the LTTE had established 12 new camps and five
temporary camps in the Trincomalee area since the
signing of the February 2002 ceasefire accord.

-- The LTTE had also established a new "Sea Tiger" base
located just south of Trincomalee harbor, according to
the Sri Lankan navy.

-- The genesis of the LTTE's recent attacks on Muslims
living in the Trincomalee area revolved around the
group's desire to control the Muslim-dominated Mutur

area located just south of Trincomalee harbor.

-- The president also quotes from a section of the
November 2002 Defense Assessment of the Sri Lankan
military by PACOM. The section quoted by the president
in her letter essentially states that LTTE military
positioning in the vicinity of Trincomalee is strong and
that Sri Lankan security forces are having a difficult
time securing the area from possible attack.
(Note: The PACOM report was also highlighted in a
September 14 article in the SUNDAY TIMES newspaper,
which covered many of the same points made by the
president in her letter.)


3. (U) Wrapping up, the president caustically informed
the PM that she had repeatedly tried to warn him about
the developing situation, stating:

"You would agree that I have made numerous attempts in
vain to advise you and some of your ministers in the
hope of turning the country away from impending
disaster. This was done as a final attempt at
cohabitational governance. I believe now is the time to
inform the people who are my only masters of these
facts."

She concludes her letter by requesting several actions
from the prime minister, including that he "refrain from
concealing and distorting the truth regarding the
security situation in Trincomalee" and that he "avoid
all further acts of omission and commission that would
compromise the security and sovereignty of Sri Lanka."
==================================
GSL says Trincomalee not in Danger
==================================


4. (C) Mission checked with a contact in the PM's
office who reported that the prime minister had not yet
sent a response to the president's letter. The
government has already publicly addressed many of the
issues raised in the letter, however. On September 11,
for example, G.L. Peiris, the Minister of Enterprise
Development and chief government spokesman, stated in
his weekly press conference that the situation in the
Trincomalee region was not dire in any way. Peiris went
on to state the following: "The minister of defense is
confident and we want to assure the country that the
government can deal with any situation and that the
security of the Eastern Province and the coast of
Trincomalee is not in danger." Regarding the
accusations from the PA, Peiris rejected them out of
hand, stating "the government view is that these are
spoiler tactics. Such tactics are alarming,
destructive, and irresponsible." Peiris also said there
had only been one confirmed military camp established by
the LTTE in the vicinity of Trincomalee since the
ceasefire accord was entered into, not the numerous
camps the PA was claiming. (Note: The LTTE has
repeatedly refused to vacate this camp despite a ruling
by the monitors.)

===========================
President Playing Politics?
===========================


5. (C) Observers that Mission has spoken with believe
that there is little merit in the president's charges.
Taranjit Sandhu, political counselor at the Indian High
Commission, for example, told polchief on September 16
that he thought the president was playing politics in
making the charges re Trincomalee and was simply trying
to gain an edge over her cohabitation rival, the prime
minister. Sandhu added that he thought that the LTTE
had long been in a strong position around Trincomalee
and, contrary to the president's charges, there was no
indication that the group formed more of a threat now
than a year ago. Kethesh Loganathan, an analyst at the
Center for Policy Alternatives, a local think-tank, told
poloff on September 16 that he thought the president was
publicly raising the situation around Trincomalee at
this time in order to damage the PM's credibility and
put him on the defensive.

=======
COMMENT
=======


6. (C) The precise military balance of power around
Trincomalee is controversial, with views in Sri Lanka
strongly colored by attitudes pro or con toward the
peace process. The public charges by Kadirgamar and the
President are based on a briefing given to them by flag-
rank naval officers -- indicating that some in the Sri
Lankan military may feel that the threat around
Trincomalee is serious. Our take is that there is
little doubt that the LTTE is in a strong position in
the eastern region, as it has been for years. It is
even quite probable that the LTTE's overall military
position in the east vis-a-vis the Sri Lankan military
is better now than before the peace process began in
December 2001. That said, it is not clear that the
localized situation in Trincomalee has seriously
deteriorated in past months as the president
specifically asserts. In any case, our guess is that
the immediate net impact of the president's letter will
probably be to raise cohabitation tensions -- which are
already high -- another notch. END COMMENT.


7. (U) Minimize considered.
LUNSTEAD