Foreign Secretary indicates that GSL plans to

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000639 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, IO/SHA, WHA/CCA, DRL/MLA; NSC FOR E. MILLARD LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL E.O. 12958: DECL: 04-11-13 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CE CU UNCHR SUBJECT: Foreign Secretary indicates that GSL plans to abstain re Cuba resolution, but will review matter Refs: (A) Colombo 626 - (B) State 91613 - (C) State 91349 (All Notal) (U) Classified by Ambassador E. Ashley Wills. Reasons: 1.5 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Following up on his conversation with FM Fernando yesterday (see Ref A),Ambassador Wills spoke to Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Nihal Rodrigo today (April 11) re the resolution on Cuba now before the UNCHR. Rodrigo said the GSL's current plan was to abstain on the vote while issuing a "strong" statement re Cuba's recent actions. Rodrigo related that he thought this was a constructive position for Sri Lanka to take inasmuch as Fidel Castro had buttonholed GSL representatives at the recent NAM summit in Malaysia, pressing Sri Lanka to vote "no." ¶2. (C) The Ambassador replied that Sri Lanka's links with NAM were well-known and were obviously important to the government. That said, real issues were at stake in this vote, i.e., a brutal crackdown by Castro's regime on pro-democracy and other activists. Sri Lanka, as a long-time democracy, should not allow NAM links to be used so that Cuba, in effect, received favorable treatment for its egregious activities. Reflecting, Rodrigo responded that the GSL would mull over the issue some more and get back to us. ¶3. (C) COMMENT: Through his last statement, Rodrigo was not completely ruling out a change in Sri Lanka's traditional decision to abstain on the Cuba vote. That said, our guess is that this is a tough sell. Per Ref B, we suggest that Department also raise the matter with Minister Moragoda, who will be in Washington early next week. END COMMENT. ¶4. (U) Minimize considered. WILLS