SRI LANKA: DEMINING OPERATIONS IN JAFFNA SUSPENDED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002167 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SA/INS AND PM/WRA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM CASC MOPS KHDP CE EAIS LTTE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEMINING OPERATIONS IN JAFFNA SUSPENDED REF: A. COLOMBO 2000 ¶B. COLOMBO 2157 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The HALO Trust (HT),Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and Danish Demining Group (DDG) have all suspended operations in the Jaffna peninsula as of December 28. HALO Trust and the SLA cited the deteriorating security environment, while the DDG's closure coincides with its holiday stand-down. Disgruntled HT employees, misreported in the local press as members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),stole two vehicles and demining equipment from the HT office and equipment compound on December 27. The stolen items have no impact on HT's ability to carry out demining. Worried about improvised explosive devices (IEDs),the SLA has asked demining NGOs to turn over their monthly explosive allotments for safe keeping. The remaining AmCit contractor from RONCO, a mine detecting dog (MDD) specialist attached to the SLA, has moved onto the military base to avoid traveling on the Jaffna-Palaly road. END SUMMARY. SUSPENDED ANIMATION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Following a series of roadside attacks on Army vehicles by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), including a grenade attack on a clearly marked Sri Lankan Army (SLA) humanitarian demining truck (Ref A),the SLA suspended humanitarian demining operations in Jaffna on December 7. The HALO Trust (HT) Program Manager told Poloff that in light of the security factors and in order to review their personnel situation, HT will suspend operations as of December 29. The Program Manager of the Danish Demining Group (DDG) told Poloff that the end of year stand-down is in effect until January 9, adding that DDG is regularly reviewing the security environment. THIS IS A STICK UP -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On December 27, eight men, some armed with pistols, forced their way past security guards into the HT office and vehicle/equipment compound in Jaffna. Witnesses positively identified two of the perpetrators as a disgruntled HT section leader and the other as one of four employees terminated for cause in November. Program Manager Ed Rowe told Poloff the following day that contrary to media reports, the LTTE was NOT/NOT involved and there were no/no British personnel on the compound at the time of the incident. The names and addresses of the two were given to the police, SLA, Jaffna Government Agent and Brigadier Chandrasiri, Commanding Officer of the engineering brigade in charge of humanitarian demining. Items taken include a laptop computer, a digital camera, two clearly marked Land Rover Defender 110s, 40 mine detectors, 6 radios and some HALO Trust T-shirts. Rowe said that HT has over 30 vehicles, 600 radios and 200 detectors in Jaffna, and the theft will have a negligible impact on HT demining operations. Rowe described the incident as clearly an act of vandalism, and speculated that the perpetrators took those items because they could be crammed in the back of two trucks in a hurry. CAN I HOLD YOUR CENTEX? -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Both HT and DDG program managers reported being approached by the SLA to turn over their monthly allotment of detonators and explosives for secure storage. Both NGOs hold less than 10 Kg and intend to comply with the request. (NOTE: The average LTTE roadside bomb uses between 20 and 30 Kg (Ref B) of explosives and Tigers seem to be awash in explosives.) GONE TO THE DOGS -------------- ¶5. (SBU) RONCO, the U.S. funded demining training contractor, is moving its only AmCit employee in Jaffna, a mine detecting dog (MDD) handler, onto the Palaly Army base in Jaffna as of December 28. This will allow for continued care and training of the MDDs without the risk of traveling the Jaffna-Palaly road. The RONCO acting chief-of-party told Poloff that if the situation does not improve by late January, the dogs and handler will be air-lifted to Vavuniya, out of the area of recent violence. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Suspension of the demining program in Jaffna is just another regrettable consequence of the LTTE campaign of terror. As usual the people of Jaffna will suffer the most, losing land that could have been reclaimed for farming or housing and facing the everyday peril of unexploded ordinance in their community. The Tigers have made it plain long ago how little human suffering influences their actions. This makes their claims in defense of the oppressed people of Jaffna drip with cynicism. END COMMENT LUNSTEAD