President Affirms Commitment to Negotiated

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001918

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR D, SA, SA/INS, S/CT, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/IP/NEA/SA
DEPT ALSO PLEASE PASS TOPEC
NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11-05-13
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINS PTER ASEC MOPS ECON CASC CE NO LTTE PLO
SUBJECT: President Affirms Commitment to Negotiated
Settlement and Cease-fire

REFS: (A) COLOMBO 1916 (B) COLOMBO 1917

(U) CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE' D'AFFAIRES JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.
REASONS 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) Summary. President Kumaratunga called in the
Charge' November 5 to clarify her actions. She said she is
committed to maintaining the ceasefire with the LTTE and to
reaching a "negotiated settlement" with the Tigers. She
wishes the Prime Minister success in this regard but felt
she had no choice but to take over the Defense and Interior
portfolios after what she sees as a two-year history of the
LTTE being allowed to "run wild." She told the Charge' that
her imposition of a state of emergency is a preemptive
action to be used in case the Prime Minister's supporters
take to the streets. The Charge' told the President that
the U.S. is paying close attention to the safety and
security of American citizens. The President assured the
Charge' that American citizens should go about their
business and should not change travel plans. In particular,
she said U.S. military cooperation activities already under
way should continue. The President seemed self-confident
and composed but unable to avoid veering into lengthy
historical accounts of the Prime Minister's alleged perfidy
over the years. This clearly is personal. End Summary.


2. (C) President Chandrika Bandanaraike Kumaratunga called
in the Charge' late on November 5. With her foreign affairs
advisor Lakshman Kadirgarmar sitting in, the President told
the Charge' that she wanted to make sure that Washington got
the "full story" on the actions she had taken to "ensure the
integrity of the nation," especially in light of the "lies"
that are being spread against her.


3. (C) The President said that she had originally intended
to keep the defense portfolio, as Presidents historically
have. PM Wickremasinghe had "whined so much" about how he
needed to put his own defense minister in to move forward on
the peace process that "I gave it to him and have regretted
it ever since." The President then went through an
exhaustive review of various "failings" by the Prime
Minister in his dealings with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE),in particular, according to her, repeated
instances in which he had turned a "blind eye" to the Tigers
efforts to rearm and re-equip, in order to not damage the
"peace process." The President said she had had enough and,
after the latest flap with General Tellefsen, the head of
the Scandinavian monitoring mission, and after two years of
"being ignored" by the PM on defense matters, decided that
she had to act to take back control. The President stressed
her commitment to a "negotiated settlement" ("I like that
term better than `peace process.'") but said the PM's
efforts had allowed the LTTE to "run wild" since "they
realized that Ranil would allow anything to keep the peace
process going." "I will be gently firm with the Tigers but
they can't be allowed to dance a jig whenever they want."


4. (C) In the same vein, the President said, she had taken
over the Interior Ministry to ensure that the police
function (which historically had resided in Defense,
according to her) would also be used "for the benefit of the
nation." It had been necessary to take back the Mass
Communications Ministry in order to ensure that the "PM's
boys don't twist things." Asked why she had taken back the
Finance Ministry (which had been "confirmed" to us shortly
before the meeting),President Kumaratunga looked at the
Charge' blankly and said she had done no such thing and had
never even considered it.


5. (C) Turning to the suspension of Parliament, the
President said that was necessary to "let things cool down"
for two weeks and allow people to adjust to the steps she
had taken. She acknowledged that the suspension would delay
the budget debate by a week, but she said that was not a
significant consideration in light of the other "grave
matters" facing the country.


6. (C) Asked about the state of emergency, the President
said this was a preemptive action so that the military would
have the necessary powers in hand in case the Prime
Minister's party loyalists tried to take to the streets.
She asked that Washington be informed that she is not
imposing a "state of siege" and that the "jackboots are not
marching down the street." "I fervently hope I will not
have to use any emergency powers." Rumors to the contrary,
she said, no curfew has been imposed.


7. (C) The Charge' told the President that the primary
concern in Washington was whether her actions were intended
to scuttle the peace process at a key, delicate moment. The
President said that nothing could be further from the truth.
The Charge' also told the President that the U.S. was
following the situation on the ground very closely in terms
of the security and safety of American citizens. So far, we
see no cause for alarm but we would continue to pay close
attention, especially now that terms like "state of
emergency" were in play. In particular, he noted, the U.S.
by coincidence had a number of military cooperation
activities under way. We intended to continue with these
unless the situation became unsafe or we were told to stand
down. The President said that safety and security were her
highest priorities. She asked that Washington be informed
that the "situation on the streets" is fine and that there
is no reason that Americans should not continue to go about
their business and to travel to Sri Lanka as planned. The
President said she plans to "address the nation in greater
detail" on November 6 and would underline those points in
those remarks. She also noted that, "as the new Defense
Minister," she was very pleased to hear about ongoing
military cooperation activities and that these should
proceed as planned.


8. (C) In conclusion, the President asked that the Charge'
convey the following points to Washington:

--she is well aware of and grateful for the positive role
the U.S. is playing in trying to end the conflict in Sri
Lanka. She asked that her warm regards be conveyed to
President Bush and said she hoped to meet him soon.

--she is fully committed to maintaining the cease-fire
agreement with the LTTE.

--she has no intention of "chasing out" the Norwegians from
their facilitation role or the Scandinavian monitors from
their "important work."

--"My commitment to a negotiated settlement is unwavering."


9. (C) Comment. The President appeared self-confident and
composed (as did her pet dog which wandered in and out of
the room). That said, she constantly detoured into long,
angry rants against the Prime Minister for his alleged
personal slights and insults over the years and historical
accounts of the myriad ways in which the PM has "betrayed"
the country. This is clearly a strongly felt personal issue
for her although she seemed sincere when she spoke about how
she is acting in the interests of the country. The
President listened closely as the Charge' outlined the U.S.
concern for the peace process and for the welfare of U.S.
citizens. We will see what she says to the public tomorrow
but she is clearly determined and hunkered down for a long
haul. End Comment.


10. (U) Minimize considered.

ENTWISTLE