Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04COLOMBO1919
2004-11-29 10:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

NORWEGIANS CONCERNED BY JVP-ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN

Tags:  PGOV PREL CE NO LTTE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001919 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR DORMANDY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL CE NO LTTE
SUBJECT: NORWEGIANS CONCERNED BY JVP-ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THEM

REF: COLOMBO 1862

Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission. 1.4 (b,d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001919

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR DORMANDY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL CE NO LTTE
SUBJECT: NORWEGIANS CONCERNED BY JVP-ORCHESTRATED CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THEM

REF: COLOMBO 1862

Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission. 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary. The Norwegians are increasingly concerned
by an ugly JVP-orchestrated campaign against their role in
the peace process. The situation is exacerbated by President
Kumaratunga,s reluctance to pull the JVP into line. The
Co-Chair consensus here is that a group call on the Foreign
Minister and/or the President to make clear our support for
Norway and to urge that the JVP,s role in the government be
clarified would be appropriate. End Summary.


2. (C) The Tokyo co-chair chiefs of mission were convened
November 29 by Japanese Ambassador Akio Suda. Norwegian
Ambassador Hans Brattskar and Dutch Ambassador Susan
Blankhart attended. DCM represented the U.S. Suda said he
had felt it wise for the co-chairs to meet and discuss the
increasingly ugly anti-Norwegian campaign being orchestrated
by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and turned the floor
over to Brattskar.

UGLY CAMPAIGN
--------------


3. (C) Brattskar said he and Oslo were becoming increasingly
concerned about and exasperated with the escalating
anti-Norwegian rhetoric (also directed against the Sri Lanka
Monitoring Mission, "SLMM") which is clearly being
orchestrated by the JVP. Oslo is also "fed up" with the
GSL's "lukewarm" response to the JVP campaign. Brattskar
shared copies of two documents. The first was a petition
handed over during a November 24 demonstration at the
Norwegian Embassy. The contents, Brattskar noted, were
fairly predictable: Norwegians too &friendly8 with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),the SLMM &does
nothing8 to prevent LTTE murders, etc. The interesting
parts, Brattskar noted, were the letterhead and signatories.
The petition from the &Forum of Political Parties and Civil
Organizations against Political Killings and Abductions8 was
signed by the anti-LTTE Tamil Eelam People's Democratic Party
(EPDP),the JVP, the anti-LTTE Tamil Eelam People's
Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF),the JVP-aligned
National Bhikku Front, the National University Teachers,

Alliance and a few other small groups. There was also a
signature line for breakaway LTTE faction leader Karuna,s
party (the TIVM),although there was no signature. Brattskar
said he had no doubt that the exercise had been organized by
the JVP. He took a dim view of the fact that two member
parties (the EPDP and the JVP) of the ruling coalition had
signed the document.


4. (C) The second document was a letter (which the
Norwegians do not intend to make public) to Brattskar from
JVP Secretary General Tilvin Silva in response to Bratskar,s
efforts to meet with the JVP leadership in order to explain
the Norwegian role and the activities of the SLMM. (As noted
in reftel, Brattskar has seen several JVP personalities in
their ministerial roles but has not been able to obtain a
meeting with the political leadership.) The letter is indeed
insulting. It refers to Norway as &a relatively
insignificant country8 (Brattskar laughingly commented,
&They,re right about that!8) It accuses Norway of active
support and training for the LTTE Sea Tigers (an old canard
that resurfaces periodically in the media),of pursuing an
agenda of active support for the LTTE against the GSL
(&aiding and abetting Tiger terrorism in devious ways in the
name of facilitating peace and thus white washing crimes
against humanity including forced conscription of children8)
and participating in LTTE propaganda efforts. The letter
says, due to these &examples8 of Norwegian connivance with
the LTTE, &The Norwegian Government has thus openly
contravened the United Nations Resolution 1373 of 2001
relating to the suppression of terrorism.8 The letter
concludes with the statement that Norwegian actions
&demonstrate the total lack of our Government,s confidence
in you. In these circumstances, a meeting with you at this
stage will serve no useful purpose.8

ACTIVE CAMPAIGN AROUND THE COUNTRY
--------------


5. (C) Brattskar stated that the JVP clearly is
orchestrating a campaign around the country. He had recently
taken separate trips to Hambantota in the deep south and to
Kandy and the &cultural triangle.8 On both trips, there
had been clear indications of such efforts and, Brattskar
said, many of those with whom he met described the JVP
campaign in detail. He also noted that the JVP member of
Parliament in Trincomalee had publicly stated he was
organizing a campaign against the SLMM office there, which
Brattskar described as &worrying.8

GOVERNMENT,S POSITION UNCLEAR
--------------


6. (C) Brattskar said, after noting the reference to &the
Government,s8 loss of confidence in the Norwegians, he had
written to Foreign Minister Kadirgamar stating that he would
assume that the JVP assertion in this regard was in error
unless he was advised otherwise by the GSL. There has been
no response. Brattskar noted that &we,ve all heard8
Kadirgamar,s now-standard view that the JVP is not cause for
concern since he is &bringing the boys along8 and slowly
turning them to a more centrist position. Brattskar said he
could certainly understand the need for the JVP to &blow off
steam8 if the party was slowly headed in the right direction
on the peace process. That is not the case. Rather, the JVP
is engaging in ugly rhetoric while heading in absolutely the
wrong direction on the peace front. Brattskar noted that
LTTE leader Prabhakaran, in his November 27 &Hero,s Day8
speech (septel) had commented extensively on how the JVP
position was, in the LTTE view, a major stumbling block on
the road back to the peace table. Brattskar commented that
he finds it increasingly difficult to explain the JVP's
activities and the southern political situation in general to
the LTTE. &They think I'm a fool.8


7. (C) Brattskar said he will continue to seek clarity from
and make his frustration known to the GSL. He opined,
however, that President Kumaratunga will be unwilling to make
the JVP toe the line (although, according to what Brattskar
had heard, she is privately &furious8 with the JVP,s
actions) since her highest preoccupation these days is with
ensuring her political and parliamentary future. She
apparently has not talked to the JVP for over a month.
Exacerbating the situation, Brattskar said, are opposition
leader Ranil Wickremesinghe,s public comments over the
weekend that his UNP party will no longer support the
President in the peace process. This stems from UNP pique
over the recent financially induced defection of a party
member to the President,s coalition (with more such
defections rumored to be in the offing).

CO-CHAIR ACTION DISCUSSED
--------------


8. (C) Ambassador Suda said he thought that the co-chairs
needed to make clear to the government that the JVP-led
anti-Norwegian campaign is unacceptable. Co-chair reps
debated whether it made more sense to first see FM Kadirgamar
as a group or to seek a co-chair meeting directly with
President Kumaratunga (since the FM,s response would be
predictable). Brattskar said he wanted to talk quietly with
the GSL first and also needed more time to talk to Oslo. He
also said he wanted to get a readout on Norwegian peace envoy
Solheim,s December 1 meeting with LTTE luminary Balasingham
in London before undertaking any new initiatives here. All
agreed that they would consult with capitals with an eye
toward some sort of joint co-chair activity here in Colombo
towards the end of the week. Brattskar said he might not
join since Norway would be the topic of discussion.

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


9. (C) Brattskar is right. The tone of the JVP-orchestrated
campaign is ugly and beyond the pale. We agree with him that
it is much more than &blowing off steam.8 With the
Department,s concurrence, we will be ready to participate in
a co-chair call on either the Foreign Minister or the
President later in the week (we think going directly to CBK,
who is just back from Iran, makes the most sense). We
believe the theme of the co-chair presentation should be that
Norway and the SLMM have our full support, that the GSL needs
to make clear that the JVP does not speak for the entire
government, that it is extremely confusing when two coalition
parties sign a petition condemning the Norwegian role in the
peace process (in direct contradiction of the President,s
public statements) and that the current situation of the JVP
being &in8 the coalition on some issues but &out8 on
others is having a deleterious effect on the peace process.
The unknown, of course, is whether the President is willing
to bring the JVP to heel when the party is crucial to her
ongoing political machinations regarding her political future
which, we fear, are at present a higher priority than the
peace process. End Comment.

LUNSTEAD