OFFICIAL INFORMAL NUMBER 022 (02/12/04)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000244

SIPDIS

OFFICIAL INFORMAL

FOR SA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/14
TAGS: AMGT CE MV
SUBJECT: OFFICIAL INFORMAL NUMBER 022 (02/12/04)


Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead for reasons 1.5
(b) and (d).

CONTENTS: AMBASSADOR'S WHEREABOUTS
INCREASING POLITICAL UNREST IN THE MALDIVES
GON MEETING WITH CBK/ELECTION OBSERVERS ISSUE
ARRESTS IN SRI LANKAN CHURCH ATTACK CASE


AMBASSADOR'S WHEREABOUTS
--------------


1. (U) Ambassador will be traveling out of Colombo (but
within Sri Lanka) from about noon on Friday till Monday
afternoon. He should be in cell phone reach during that
period. AID Director Carol Becker will be Acting DCM.
Joe Novak and Dean Thompson will also both be in Colombo
and reachable throughout the long weekend.

INCREASING POLITICAL UNREST IN THE MALDIVES
--------------


2. (C) FYI. According to several contacts, there are
increasing reports (also see Colombo 181, and previous) of
political unrest in the Maldives:

-- During a February 12 phone conversation with the
Ambassador, Minh Pham, UNDP Resident Representative for the
Maldives, said that there are reports that the "active
underground" is planning a large demonstration for February
12 or 14. Pham added that the Maldivian police are out in
force and a 1-4 AM "restrictive travel order" was declared
for the morning of February 12. The UN is nudging up its
security posture to "Phase I," according to Pham.

-- As you have seen, we have copied SA/INS on our emails
regarding Waheed Hassan, a Maldivian national working for
UNICEF in Kabul. He is a key figure in opposition circles
and currently considering a return to the Maldives. We are
in the process of developing low-profile contact with him
via Embassy Kabul based on an e-mail he sent to us recently.

-- According to information from the opposition
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP),two former GoRM
officials have joined the MDP's ranks. Ousted by
President Gayoom during his November presidential
inauguration cabinet changes, former attorney general
Mohamed Munavvar and formed planning minister Ibrahim
Hussain Zaki had been upset with some of the president's
policy decisions.

The Ambassador is scheduled to lead a Mission team to
the Maldives around February 26 for the annual U.S.
national day celebration. (Although at the moment,
there are no hotel rooms available.) We will report
more on the Maldivian situation and urge Washington to
keep track, too. (POL)

GON MEETING WITH CBK/ELECTION OBSERVERS ISSUE
--------------


3. (C) We participated in a local Tokyo co-chairs
meeting hosted by Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar
late February 11. During the meeting, some ideas were
exchanged about the planned joint statement to be issued
after the Feb. 17 meeting in Washington (we sent you the
draft prepared by the Norwegians of this joint
statement). Brattskar, who left early this morning for
the U.S. to attend the Feb. 17 meeting, related that he
had met with President Kumaratunga that day. She had
underscored her support for the peace process and noted
that she had had a good meeting with the new head of the
SLMM, Trond Furuhovde. (Furuhovde was the first head of
the SLMM and has returned after the previous occupant of
the slot, T. Tellefsen, was kicked out.) She also took
on board Brattskar's comments that the campaign should
not be divisive, or it would damage the peace process
and ceasefire, and alienate the LTTE. Regarding his
request that all parties work in a cooperative spirit
after the April 2 election, CBK went on a long riff
attacking PM Wickremesinghe (no surprise there!!).


4. (C) Election Observer matter and query: By the way,
the Dutch (who were at the meeting for the Irish who do
not have a resident mission) and EU representatives said
the EU was well in gear in terms of plans for getting
observers on the ground in Sri Lanka eventually. A team
is due here later this month to look into security and
other issues (the EU delegation here is particularly
worried about what it considers rising xenophobia). A
meeting is taking place in Brussels on Feb. 17 to review
the whole issue, including how big an EU team should be.
In 2001, the team was quite large, as was the
Commonwealth team. EU-types have also met with Sri
Lanka's Elections Commissioner, who indicated that he
would welcome observers. Also, just want to check and
see if there has been any Department response on
possible funding for election monitoring, as AID needs
our dollar figure tomorrow (February 13) to move ahead
with programming. (POL)
ARRESTS IN SRI LANKAN CHURCH ATTACK CASE
--------------

5. (SBU) FYI. The police have arrested ten or so people
in connection with some of the recent attacks on
Christian churches. The group are reported to have
traveled around the country attacking Christian targets.
At present, those arrested appear to be moving through
the legal system. There are also indications that some
of the arrested were Buddhist monks, who have since been
released on bail. We will continue to look into this.
(POL)

LUNSTEAD