SRI LANKA: EAST REMAINS TENSE AMID POLITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001623

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2014
TAGS: PGOV EAID PTER PHUM CE LTTE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: EAST REMAINS TENSE AMID POLITICAL
UNCERTAINTY

REF: COLOMBO 1588

Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Several recent political killings in the
East, connected to last spring,s factional split of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),have raised the
level of tension and concern among local residents. Emboff's
trip to the East September 23-24 to inaugurate several USAID
projects afforded a look at a region that is calm but anxious
and pessimistic about the prospects for a resumption of
negotiations. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Information Officer (IO) traveled to Batticaloa and
Ampara districts in eastern Sri Lanka September 23-24 to
promote media coverage of several USAID projects. Contacts
met during the visit expressed anxiety and unease with the
current situation in the East, an area that has been roiled
by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) infighting since
the March 2004 split of the Tigers' Eastern commander
&Karuna8 from the main northern Tiger faction. (Note: As
reported reftel, the latest high-profile assassination was
the September 23 slaying of Karuna,s brother on the northern
border of Batticaloa District. Estimates indicate that
approximately forty people have been killed in factional
fighting since Karuna broke with the LTTE. End Note.)
According to Muslim residents of Sammanthurai in Ampara
District, the violence since the split last March has lowered
their hopes for the peace process and raised concerns about
the prospects for a return to a full-fledged war. A
community leader in the local Muslim group Al-Quereshia said
Muslims in Ampara had long ago adopted a wait-and-see policy
toward pronouncements from either Colombo or LTTE
headquarters in Kilinochchi. The Muslim community leader
emphasized that Muslims like himself were &taking care of
the situation themselves,8 although he declined to expand on
that declaration.


3. (SBU) In Akkairapattu, a heavily Muslim area between
Batticaloa and Ampara districts, many interlocutors stated
that regardless of the situation in the capital, life for
them was not driven by politics. The owner of a small
electronics concern in the town said that while he was eager
for peace to come, he was more concerned about day-to-day
quality of life issues rather than politics. Echoing
comments made by others on the area, the businessman stated
he did not trust the LTTE to reform, since he had &seen what
they are capable of.8 On the drive from Ampara to
Batticaloa, however, several road-spanning wooden cutouts
known as &pandals8 announcing an LTTE &martyr,s8 death
commemoration were in evidence, as were copious Tiger
decorations, and offices linked to the LTTE headquarters'
political wing appeared open for business.


4. (SBU) In Batticaloa district, in contrast, contacts
reported a feeling of heightened tension following the split
in March and subsequent factional fighting. In Batticaloa
town, shops were open, and the streets bustled with activity.
LTTE offices across Batticaloa District remained shuttered,
our interlocutors said, and there had been little or no
activity by the Northern Tigers since Karuna's faction took a
drubbing at the hands of the main Tiger organization in
April. Underscoring the seriousness with which the Tigers
took Karuna,s break, contacts reported that there had been
no LTTE tax collections (arguably one of the most important
Tiger activities) since the outbreak of fighting in April.


5. (C) The overall mood in Batticaloa was one of sullen
resentment towards the Government of Sri Lanka, and
uncertainty towards the political future of the east. Father
Harry Miller (Amcit- strictly protect),a Jesuit priest who
has been in Sri Lanka for the last fifty years, told us his
parishioners were increasingly worried as the &Karuna
situation8 continued to simmer beneath the surface of
everyday life. Miller said that people in Batticaloa were
unwilling to state publicly whether they favored Karuna or
the main Tiger organization, as there &was no way of telling
which side the person next to you might support.8 Miller
added that in the East national politics paled in importance
to local affairs; most locals were focused on the
machinations of the Tigers. Major Merril Perera, a Sri Lanka
Army officer attached to Batticaloa headquarters command,
echoed these comments, saying while the situation since April
had been calm, people were &waiting for the other shoe to
drop.8

6. (C) COMMENT: The East, with its ethnic patchwork of
Tamils, Muslims, and Sinhalese, has long been a potential
flashpoint in Sri Lanka. Our interlocutors asserted that the
priority of most ordinary citizens of Batticaloa and Ampara
was a return to normalcy and peace. Nevertheless there
remains a strong undercurrent of resentment towards the
northern leadership of the Tigers, a sentiment that contacts
suggest lies behind Karuna,s break with the main Tiger
organization. As last week's killings illustrate, the two
factions are still sorting things out in the East. END
COMMENT.

LUNSTEAD