Talks about Talks in Stasis while Norwegians

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001013

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD

PLEASE PASS TOPEC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06-17-14
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER CE NO IN LTTE
SUBJECT: Talks about Talks in Stasis while Norwegians
Ponder Next Moves

Refs: (A) Colombo 983, and previous

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The LTTE showed no flexibility on
negotiation issues during Norwegian Ambassador's June 16
visit to Kilinochchi. Both sides have rejected a
Norwegian compromise formulation on the negotiating
agenda. The situation in the East is somewhat improved
but remains troubled. The LTTE has postponed its
European meeting. The Tigers told NGOs and UN agencies
they want to coordinate assistance better. Norwegians
will hold discussions in India this week. Norwegians
will decide optimum time to resume their shuttle
efforts. END SUMMARY.

No Progress for Norwegians in Kilinochchi
--------------


2. (C) Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar briefed
fellow Co-Chair Ambassadors June 17 on his previous
day's discussions with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi and on Norwegian peace
efforts in general. Brattskar said he had a 90 minute
meeting with LTTE political leader S.P. Thamilchelvam.
Briefing Thamilchelvam on the Brussels meeting,
Brattskar told him that the Co-Chairs were afraid of
drift in the peace process and were concerned about the
situation in the East. The positive side was that there
was great interest in Sri Lanka at a high political
level; the negative side was the impatience at lack of
progress. Thamilchelvam had spent considerable time
discussing the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA),which he
claimed the Government was violating in the East by
supporting Karuna's forces. Thamilchelvam repeated the
familiar LTTE plaint that the Tamil people have
benefited from peace for the last two years but have
gained little else.


3. (C) Brattskar said he responded that both sides were
responsible for supporting the CFA. Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission (SLMM) head Trond Furuhovde would
travel to Kilinochchi next week for discussions on this
issue with the LTTE. (Brattskar commented that the
situation in the East was better than a few weeks ago,
but was still unstable.) In the meantime, the LTTE had
postponed its planned leadership trip to Geneva next
week for meetings with Tamil expatriate legal experts.
With no date yet set for talks, the LTTE saw no reason
to hold the discussions at this time.


4. (C) Ambassador asked Brattskar where the back and
forth on the talks stood, and described his own talk
last Friday with President Kumaratunga and her
description of the situation (see Reftel). Brattskar
said that both sides want Norway to continue its shuttle
diplomacy, but that right now nothing is happening. The
LTTE's "seemingly inflexible position" of discussions
only on its Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA)
proposal had not allowed them to accept a Norwegian
proposal that the two sides sit down without any agenda
at all. At the request of both sides, the Norwegians
had tried to come up with a proposal for an agenda
bridging the positions of both sides, but neither had
agreed to their suggestion. At the moment, therefore,
the peace talks were in stasis. The Norwegians would
need to decide when to come up with a new proposal.
Brattskar noted that some people thought there would be
no movement until after the July 10 Provincial Council
elections. (Comment: We do not see a connection.) At
any rate, it was unlikely there could be any movement
until President Kumaratunga returned from her private
visit to the UK.

5. (C) Brattskar said that the deadlock came down to
the same old issues: lack of trust (especially by the
LTTE),and a feeling by the LTTE that agreement to
discuss final issues before an ISGA was agreed upon and
implemented would mean there would never be an ISGA.

LTTE Meets NGOs and UN Agencies
--------------


6. (C) The LTTE had invited major NGOs and UN agencies
to Kilinochchi June 15 to meet with the Tiger's Planning
and Development Secretariat (PDS). According to
participants in the meeting, the LTTE predictably asked
for direct funding, and were predictably turned down.
The Tigers described the PDS as a "focal point," not as
a proposed implementation agency. The Tigers wanted the
NGOs to "coordinate" with the PDS -- the NGOs said
coordination was fine as long as it did not mean
control. The Tigers said that they did not want any
type of joint development work with the Central
Government, but that they had no objection to projects
being implemented through the North East Provincial
Council, as is currently being done. The repeated their
opposition, however, to a revival of the North East
Reconstruction Fund (NERF) or a "NERF-like" structure,
which they see as a tactic to delay or permanently
replace an ISGA.

Norwegians to Delhi
--------------


7. (U) Brattskar himself is leaving afternoon of June
17 to meet Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Helgesen in
New Delhi for talks with the new Indian government.
Brattskar said that reports in both Indian and Sri
Lankan press that current High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
Nirupam Sen would leave to become Perm Rep in New York,
and that Sen would be replaced by MFA Additional
Secretary for Administration Mrs. Nirupama Menon Rao

SIPDIS
were true.

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


8. (C) The Norwegians are clearly feeling a bit
frustrated. Brattskar expressed (unusually) some
impatience with the LTTE and conceded that it was not
unreasonable for the GSL to expect some give from the
Tigers, who so far have not budged an inch from their
position on the negotiating agenda. The Norwegians seem
to feel now that it is best to take a breather before
getting back into the shuttle business. In the
meantime, Ambassador is planning an on-the-record
session with major newspaper editors next week to push
the message of Brussels: all sides need to move on
peace or risk losing donor attention and funding. END
COMMENT.


9. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD