TFIZ01: Mission conveys latest message re

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000560

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, SA/PD, IO, DS/DSS/ITA,
DSERCC, INR/NESA, AND NEA/NGA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04-02-13
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO ASEC CE MV IZ UN
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: Mission conveys latest message re
UNGA; President Kumaratunga hits out at U.S.

Refs: (A) State 84320

- (B) Colombo 552, and previous (Notal)

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons: 1.5 (B,D).


1. (C) This update, focused on reaction to Operation
Iraqi Freedom in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, reviews:

>> Mission conveys latest points re blocking possible
UNGA meeting

>> Taking a different tack than the government,
President Kumaratunga hits out at the U.S.

>> NGO, Muslim criticism of the war

>> The missing "Al-Jazeera factor"

(((Note: Latest media coverage is provided Septel.)))

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Demarche on Blocking UNGA Meeting
--------------


2. (C) Per Ref A instruction cable, Mission has
conveyed the latest points re blocking a possible UNGA
meeting to the Sri Lankan and Maldivian governments.
Neither government has yet replied to our points. Based
on previous demarches with similar themes, we would
expect both governments to be relatively sympathetic to
our points. That said, both countries will almost
certainly do whatever the majority of NAM, G-77 members
are doing (the Maldives will also look to the OIC),
while checking to see what regional power India plans to
do. Mission will continue to press this important issue
with both governments.

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President Hits Out
--------------


3. (C) In her first public comments on the subject,
President Kumraratunga has criticized the U.S. regarding
the war in Iraq. (Note: Kumaratunga has been on
vacation in Europe, only returning to Sri Lanka the
other day. See Ref C for comments she made during a
talk to the local diplomatic corps on March 31.) In
April 1 remarks mixed into a speech on a different
subject, Kumraratunga stated that U.S. policy had a
"double standard" in that we urged the GSL to talk to
the terrorist Tamil Tigers, while we went ahead and
attacked Iraq. Kumaratunga reportedly made some other
points to the net effect that she felt that the war in
Iraq was "unnecessary."


4. (C) Based on what Mission has heard, Kumaratunga, in
private, is viscerally opposed to the coalition's
actions in Iraq. While members of her People's Alliance
(PA) party have also criticized Operation Iraqi Freedom,
it is not clear whether Kumaratunga's salvo is the
beginning of a more active anti-war posture by her and
her party, or just grist for the mill. Kumaratunga's
comments also put her at odds with the United National
Front (UNF) government, which issued a relatively
constructive statement re the war late last month.
(Note: No surprise there: The president and the UNP
government have been in a stressful "cohabitation"
arrangement since December 2001 and rarely see eye-to-
eye.)

--------------
NGO, Muslim Criticism
--------------


5. (C) NGO Reaction: As is probably the case with most
posts, Mission has received a lot of mail and faxes
opposing the war. One group that has been well-
represented in these communications has been the local
non-governmental organization (NGO) community working on
civil society/human rights issues. One fax that seemed
to symbolize the views of these NGOs came from Jehan
Perera, the head of the National Peace Council, which
specializes in peace process and human rights issues.
In his fax, Perera, who was educated at Harvard, but has
always maintained a slightly anti-U.S. edge, states, in
part:
"...We appeal to the coalition forces of the United
States and United Kingdom to immediately halt their
military campaign that has no UN sanction...The
experience of Sri Lanka and other war-affected countries
has been one in which armies that bomb villages and
cities cannot win the hearts and minds of the
population."


6. (C) Muslim Reaction: In previous messages, Mission
has noted that Sri Lanka's small Muslim community (not
surprisingly) seems the most agitated of any group in
the country concerning the Iraq war. Re the latest
doings in the community, Mission has heard that Sri
Lanka's mullahs and maulavis (Muslim religious clergy)
are urging Muslims to boycott all American products.
According to reports, clergy in many of Sri Lanka's
mosques made such a request last Friday, March 28.
(Note: In the past, Mission has picked up pamphlets
distributed by extremists that demanded that Muslims and
others boycott U.S. goods. Many of the companies that
were classified as being American in these crudely made
pamphlets were actually European or even Japanese.)

--------------
The Missing "Al-Jazeera Factor"
--------------


7. (SBU) Mission has seen the press reports commenting
on the role that Al-Jazeera's inflammatory coverage is
having in helping whip up anti-U.S. sentiment in the
Arab world. We checked and confirmed that Al-Jazeera is
generally not available in Sri Lanka, except to the
very, very few people that subscribe to it and own a
satellite dish. (Note: Our guess is that the embassies
of Middle Eastern countries are the main patrons.) BBC,
CNN, and SKY TV are by far the most popular channels for
international news here, and local news shows have been
invariably using video feed from these channels in
reports re the Iraq war. Based on this, it is safe to
say that in Sri Lanka, at least, there is no discernible
"Al-Jazeera factor." (Note: In the Maldives, a
relatively affluent Muslim country with close links with
the Middle East, we believe that Al-Jazeera probably
does have an audience. It is not clear how large it is,
however.)

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) Thus far, as we have previously reported,
reaction in Sri Lanka to Operation Iraqi Freedom has
been muted. (Note: In fact, most observers believe
that local reaction against the war to topple Al-Qaida
and the Taliban in Afghanistan was more heated than that
against the Iraq war, so far.) If the president,
starting with her statement reported above, leads a
charge against the war, that equation could change.
Such an effort by the PA would be quixotic to say the
least, however: Sri Lanka is so wrapped up in its many,
many problems that the average person is not likely to
buy into an anti-U.S. smear campaign. END COMMENT.


9. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS