Key minister expresses confidence that talks

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000715

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04-25-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS CE NO LTTE
SUBJECT: Key minister expresses confidence that talks
will get back on track; Opposition hits out at Norway

Refs: (A) FBIS Reston Va DTG 250310Z APR 03

- (B) Colombo 707, and previous

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: In an April 24 press conference,
Minister G.L. Peiris, the government's chief spokesman
and negotiator, expressed confidence that the peace
process will get back on track. He noted that the GSL's
formal reply to the Tigers' statement pulling out of the
peace talks was still being put together. In other
news, the Opposition is hitting out hard against the
Norwegian facilitation effort. Despite Peiris'
relatively upbeat tone, the Tigers have given no
indication they are backing down. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) KEY MINISTER'S COMMENTS: In an April 24 press
conference, a key Sri Lankan government minister has
expressed confidence that the peace process will get
back on track. Government spokesman and chief
negotiator Minister G.L. Peiris told reporters that the
GSL was confident about settling issues related to the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) April 21 pullout
from the peace talks. (Note: Per Ref B, in another
negative signal, the LTTE on April 24 postponed the next
meeting of a key humanitarian assistance committee.)
Underscoring that he thought the problems leading to the
suspension of the talks were really quite "limited,"
Minister Peiris said what mattered now was not to assign
blame, but rather to look at means by which talks could
be resumed. "We have to recognize that there is a
limited problem and try to resolve it...It is certainly
not the end of the peace process," he said. (Note: See
Septel for local reaction to Ambassador Wills' April 24
remarks re the Tigers' pullout from the talks.)


3. (SBU) In conciliatory remarks toward the LTTE,
Peiris said the government would continue to work on
ways to reduce the size of the Jaffna military exclusion
zones, especially the troop presence in Jaffna city. He
went on to emphasize that the ceasefire agreement was
still in place, there was no threat of war starting
again, or a need for security to be strengthened due to
the suspension of talks. (Note: Per Ref B, President
Kumaratunga and members of her party have been turning
up the heat on the government, urging it to return to
emergency security measures in light of the Tigers'
pullout from the talks.)


4. (SBU) Peiris said he expected dialogue with the LTTE
to resume sooner rather than later and he said he
thought the group would reconsider its decision not to
attend the donors conference slated to take place in
Tokyo in June. Regarding a formal response to the
Tiger's April 21 statement, Peiris noted that the GSL's
formal reply was still being put together, but should be
ready by next week. (Note: Prime Minister
Wickremesinghe had sent the Tigers a placeholder
response on April 22 -- see Ref B.) When asked, Peiris
conceded that as far as he knew the Norwegian government
facilitators had not managed to speak with chief Tiger
negotiator Anton Balasingham this week and were having
problems getting responses from other LTTE officials.
(Note: Per Peiris' comments, the Norwegians have
confirmed as much to us re LTTE non-communicativeness.
We also hear from the British High Commission that the
London-based Balasingham is refusing to talk to the
HMG.)


5. (C) PRESSURE ON NORWEGIANS: In other peace process-
related news, the Opposition political parties continue
to ramp up their criticism of the Norwegian facilitation
effort, harshly accusing the GoN of favoring the LTTE.
The most recent criticism centers around a yet to be
fully developed proposal by the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that would grant recognition
to the Sea Tigers, the naval wing of the LTTE, to
operate in Sri Lanka's coastal waters under certain
conditions. (Note: There have been a number of
confrontations at sea between the LTTE and the GSL, and
both sides had tasked the SLMM to look into the matter.)
The Opposition has accused the SLMM of trying to
"divide" Sri Lanka and strengthen the LTTE via its work
on this matter. Taking matters further, the National
Bhikku Front, an organization of Buddhist monks
affiliated with the radical Janantha Vimukthi Peramuna
(JVP) party, marched on the Norwegian Embassy on
April 24 to protest against the SLMM. When we spoke to
him, Norwegian embassy Polchief Tomas Stangeland
downplayed the march, noting that it was one of many
anti-peace process demonstrations and that it was in
fact smaller than some previous marches. While noting
that the criticism by the Opposition was getting a bit
annoying, Stangeland stressed that the GoN would
continue its facilitation efforts until told not to by
the GSL and the LTTE.


6. (C) COMMENT: Since the start of the peace process
in late 2001, G.L. Peiris has proven to be a chronic
optimist, searching for positive signs in every negative
event. His April 24 remarks, while measured, conformed
to the norm in their relatively upbeat, conciliatory
nature. Thus far, however, the Tigers have given no
sign they are backing down. Given the fact they are
being whipsawed by the LTTE and hammered by the
Opposition, the Norwegians are clearly having a tough
time finding a way to sort things out. (Note: The LTTE
will be striking a particularly militaristic pose for
the next several days: Tiger celebrations of the
group's 2000 seizure of the key Elephant Pass access
point between Jaffna Peninsula and the mainland reach
their apotheosis on April 28.) END COMMENT.


7. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS