Sri Lanka: New foreign secretary named;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000685

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04-21-14
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR CE
SUBJECT: Sri Lanka: New foreign secretary named;
More changes in MFA expected as new FM assumes reins

Refs: (A) Colombo 669

- (B) USDAO Colombo Ce IIR 6 816 0066 04

(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Sri Lanka has a new foreign secretary.
H.M.G.S. Palihakkara, a career foreign service officer,
was named to the position on April 20. Former Fonsec
Goonetilleke is slated to fill in as acting UN Permrep
in New York and then go to Ottawa to be high
commissioner. While other personnel changes are said to
be in the works at the MFA in the aftermath of the
recent parliamentary election and change in government,
they are not expected to be large-scale. That said, new
FM Kadirgamar, who was also FM from 1994-2001, is said
to be intent on removing those in key MFA slots whom he
considers to have been close to the former UNP
government. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) NEW FOREIGN SECRETARY: On April 20, President
Kumaratunga appointed H.M.G.S. Palihakkara to the post
of foreign secretary, the highest career rank in Sri
Lanka's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and second-in-charge
of the ministry after Foreign Minister Kadirgamar.
Before his new posting, Palihakkara had been deputy
chief of the GSL's Peace Secretariat and also Ambassador
to Thailand. Bio-data on Palihakkara is provided in
Para 7.


3. (C) FORMER FONSEC TO OTTAWA: Palihakkhara's
predecessor as foreign secretary, Ambassador Bernard
Goonetilleke, is slated to become the next High
Commissioner to Canada. In an April 20 conversation, he
told Ambassador Lunstead that, before assuming duties in
Ottawa, he may also serve temporarily as Sri Lanka's UN
Permrep in New York. (Charles Mahendran, the former UN
Permrep, is being forced out due to his close links with
the former United National Party, "UNP," government.)
Goonetilleke, who had only been foreign secretary since
September 2003, stated that the foreign secretarial
changeover from him to Palihakkara had been worked out
long ago. Goonetilleke told the Ambassador, however,
that he had been set to continue on as Peace Secretariat
chief after the foreign secretary changeover. With the
change in government, however, those plans had changed.
(Goonetilleke was known to be quite close to the
previous UNP government.) Goonetilleke said he looked
forward to Ottawa and noted that he had a son living in
Canada.


4. (C) MORE CHANGES IN MFA EXPECTED: Other changes in
key MFA positions are also expected, including the
following:

-- Rosy Senanayake, High Commissioner to Malaysia, is
expected to be recalled. A former beauty queen, she is
a political appointee with strong ties to the former UNP
government. President Kumaratunga is known to dislike
her.

-- V.K. Walsan, Ambassador to Sweden, is another UNP
political appointee who is likely to be recalled.

-- U.B. Wijekoon, Ambassador to Russia, is a political
appointee from the previous government. Mission has
heard that he, too, will be recalled.
-- Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera (ret'd),High Commissioner to
Australia, is a UNP political appointee and we have
heard that he may be recalled.

-- Gen. Rohan de S. Daluwatte, Ambassador to Brazil, is
also scheduled to return to Sri Lanka. Mission had
heard that Daluwatte could potentially become the next
Defense Secretary, but Cyril Herath will continue to
hold this position. It is possible that Daluwatte could
assume a different portfolio within the MOD (see Ref B).

-- Dr. Piyasiri Wijesekera, Ambassador to Cuba, may be
recalled. Wijesekera is the brother of Mahinda
Wijesekera, a former UNP minister and a fierce critic of
President Kumaratunga's, and may suffer from that
association.
-- Faiz Mustapha, High Commissioner to the UK and a
close associate of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf
Hakeem, may also be recalled. Although Mustapha is
widely respected, he may be replaced given the fact that
the UK slot is a prestigious one and the new government
may want to dole it out to a supporter.


5. (C) Amid all of these possible changes at the MFA,
Mission has heard of possible continuity at two major
posts. Devinda Subasinghe, Ambassador to the U.S., may
be staying on in that position. While a political
appointee of the previous government's, Subasinghe has
also maintained contacts with the President and her
party. Another current Sri Lankan envoy, Mangala
Moonesinghe, High Commissioner to India, appears likely
to stay in his position. He is a former MP for the
President's Sri Lanka Freedom Party and is said to have
maintained close links with Kumaratunga.


6. (C) COMMENT: New Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar is said to be intent on removing those in key
MFA slots whom he considers to have been close to the
former UNP government. Kadirgamar, who served
previously as FM from 1994-2001, knows every nook and
cranny of the MFA and will move quickly to take charge.
Although Palihakkara has a good reputation, it is a
shame that Goonetilleke is leaving as foreign secretary
and as chief of the Peace Secretariat. Mission found
him easy to work with, candid, and quite efficient. END
COMMENT.


7. (SBU) BIO-DATA ON PALIHAKKARA: H.M.G.S.
Palihakkara, Sri Lanka's new Foreign Secretary, is 57.
("Hewa Matara Gamage Siripala" Palihakkara goes by
"Siri" for short.) In addition to his MFA duties,
Palihakkara may also become the next Director General of
the GSL's Peace Secretariat -- the dual role that his
predecessor, Bernard Goonetilleke, had. Immediately
prior to his appointment as foreign secretary,
Palihakkara, a career officer, had served as deputy
chief at the Peace Secretariat and as Ambassador to
Thailand from 2001 to 2004. In Bangkok, he was also
accredited to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He has also
served as Permrep at Sri Lanka's UN Mission in Geneva
and as an officer at Sri Lanka's UN Mission in New York.
Educated at the University of Ceylon in Peradeniya,
Palihakkara also participated in a diplomatic training
course in Australia and completed a UN Fellowship on
Security and Disarmament. A Sinhalese Buddhist from the
southern town of Matara, he is married with one son. In
our dealings with him, we have found Palihakkara affable
and articulate. END BIO-DATA.


8. (U) Minimize considered.


LUNSTEAD