Tigers meet Japanese envoy and are

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000773

SIPDIS

ISLAMABAD PLS PASS TO SA A/S ROCCA

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT, INR/NESA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05-08-13
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINR EAID CE NO JA LTTE
SUBJECT: Tigers meet Japanese envoy and are
noncommittal about returning to talks

Refs: (A) OpsCenter-Colombo 05/08/03 telecon

- (B) FBIS Reston Va DTG 070711z May 03
- (C) Colombo 764, and previous

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b, d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Japanese envoy Akashi met May 7 with
Tiger leader Prabhakaran and pressed the LTTE to return
to the peace talks. Akashi also gave the Tigers one
week to make a final decision on whether they will
attend the June donors conference in Tokyo. Prabhakaran
was noncommittal, although he indicated the Tigers would
be cooperative if the GSL met their long-standing
demands re assistance and security. At this point, it's
not clear what the Tigers will do, but they seem to have
climbed down somewhat from their previous hard-line
positioning. END SUMMARY


2. (U) MEETING PRABHAKARAN: A Japanese government
delegation led by Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi met with
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader V.
Prabhakaran on May 7. The meeting took place in the
LTTE-controlled town of Kilinochchi in northern Sri
Lanka. A large Japanese team, which included Ambassador
to Sri Lanka Seiichiro Otsuka, participated in the
meeting. Visiting London-based LTTE spokesman Anton
Balasingham, political chief S.P. Thamilchelvam, and J.
Maheswaran, an AUSTRALIA-based LTTE official, also
attended the meeting.


3. (C) JAPANESE READOUT: Ambassador Otsuka provided
Ambassador Wills a readout of the Kilinochchi talks
early May 8. Otsuka said the two-hour meeting was "very
cordial and not at all confrontational." In terms of
substance, he noted that while it was "good", it was not
"conclusive" in that the LTTE had not agreed to return
to the peace talks and to attend the June donors
conference in Tokyo. Otsuka noted that Akashi had
pressed these issues twice and received essentially
noncommittal responses both times. Akashi had also
pressed Prabhakaran on other issues, such as human
rights. In addition, he had urged the Tigers to return
to the Sub-Committee for Immediate Humanitarian and
Rehabilitation Needs in the North and East (SIHRN).
(Note: The Tigers pulled out of this joint committee
late last month.)


4. (C) Otsuka said Prabhakaran, who rarely meets with
foreigners, listened intently to all of Akashi's points.
In his comments, Prabhakaran stressed that progress had
not been made in the delivery of humanitarian and
developmental assistance because the SIHRN committee was
"not efficient." He also complained that the North/East
Reconstruction Fund (NERF) was not yet operating and
funding projects. Prabhakaran went on to touch on long-
standing LTTE concerns about Tamil displaced persons
related to the issue of the military presence in Jaffna
District (see more below in Para 8). Despite his
noncommittal reaction, Prabhakaran did not fully
discount the possibility that the Tigers would
eventually come back to the talks and decide to attend
the Tokyo meeting. He did, however, make very clear
that there had to be progress on issues of Tiger concern
before the group would do so. Akashi emphasized that
the Tigers had one week to decide whether or not they
were coming to Tokyo.


5. (C) Sharing a small vignette, Otsuka related that
the Japanese side had brought along its own interpreter
to the meeting. (Note: Most visitors in meetings with
the LTTE rely on the group's interpreter who is named
"George." George has often been accused of spinning his
translations.) After the meeting, the GoJ interpreter
told Otsuka that at one point Balasingham had said, "We
suspended the peace talks to get concessions." (Note:
This statement tends to highlight the tactical nature of
the LTTE's recent moves.) In another vignette, Otsuka
commented that Prabhakaran had told him during the more
social atmosphere of the lunch following the meeting
that his son, Charles Anthony, was studying martial
arts. A lively discussion on the matter ensued when
Otsuka noted that he had a brown belt in karate. (Note:
Charles Anthony, who is believed to be in London, is
approximately 17 years old. Prabhakaran is believed to
have another son and one daughter with him at his key
base in Mullaitivu in northeast Sri Lanka.)


6. (U) (((Note: In other peace process news: early
May 8 the pro-LTTE website "TamilNet" posted an article
on the Akashi-Prabhakaran meeting complete with several
photos. The article was relatively upbeat and its
substance largely jibed with Otsuka's readout. The
article noted that at the close of the meeting
Prabhakaran had given Akashi a "Tamil Eelam" map and
insignia.)))


7. (SBU) (((Note: Following up Deputy Foreign Minister
Helgesen's recent visit and the latest efforts by the
Japanese, Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim is slated
to meet Balasingham in the Wanni on May 8. Solheim's
brief is believed to be identical to Helgesen's and
Akashi's, i.e., try to convince the Tigers to come back
to the talks and attend the June donors conference.)))


8. (C) (((Note: In another peace process development,
Defense Minister Marapana announced May 7 that the GSL
was planning a large-scale reorganization of its forces
in Jaffna District. The idea behind the reorganization
would be to amalgamate forces in Jaffna, and, thus,
permit more civilian land use. The plan is clearly
meant to appease the Tigers, who have long claimed that
the military's bases in Jaffna - especially the so-
called "high security zones" there - are too large. See
DATT's Septel re the GSL proposal and the military's
reaction to it.)))


9. (C) COMMENT: The Norwegians and the Japanese have
certainly been giving it their all in working to
convince the Tigers to return to the negotiating track.
There seems to be some movement by the Tigers in that
they appear to have climbed down somewhat from their
previous hard-line positioning. The group, for example,
has re-opened lines of communication and adopted a less
shrill tone. In fact, the U.S. can take some credit for
this shift, as the Tigers' move toward a more moderate
posture dates from their response to the U.S. statement
on their pullout from the talks. (Note: In other
potentially positive news, we understand that FCO
officials had a good give-and-take with Balasingham on
May 4 just before he came to Sri Lanka. In their
previous attempt to meet with him, Balasingham had
rudely told them he did not want to talk.) All that
said, it's still not clear what the Tigers plan to do
and whether they will be back in the ballgame soon. END
COMMENT.


10. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS