Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05COLOMBO373
2005-02-16 12:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

DHANAPALA SAYS GOVERNMENT WILLING TO COMPROMISE

Tags:  PGOV PTER CE JA 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 COLOMBO 000373 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2015
TAGS: PGOV PTER CE JA LTTE
SUBJECT: DHANAPALA SAYS GOVERNMENT WILLING TO COMPROMISE
WITH LTTE ON AID MECHANISM


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD FOR REASON 1.5 (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000373

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2015
TAGS: PGOV PTER CE JA LTTE
SUBJECT: DHANAPALA SAYS GOVERNMENT WILLING TO COMPROMISE
WITH LTTE ON AID MECHANISM


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD FOR REASON 1.5 (D).


1. (C) Ambassador met with head of Sri Lankan
Peace Secretariat Jayantha Dhanapala February

16. Dhanapala launched immediately into a
recounting of the status of the negotiations
with the LTTE to set up a joint mechanism for
reconstruction in the North and East. He said
that the negotiations had been progressing
fairly well, and then the Kausalyan killing
upset everything. "It was the worst thing at the
worst time." He then extensively described the
reasons why the Army and the Government could
not be blamed for the killing.


2. (C) Returning to the negotiations, Dhanapala
said that on February 3 he had sent a fresh GSL
proposal to the LTTE by email. Then the
Kausalyan assassination spoiled the atmosphere.
Even before that, however, there were problems.
In his first six rounds of negotiations with
LTTE Peace Secretariat head Pulidevan, things
moved smoothly. However, when the proposals
were sent to the LTTE Central Committee for
clearance, things slowed down and became more
difficult.


3. (C) After the Central Committee became
involved, several important policy issues came
up. For one, the LTTE now insisted that the
mechanism should cover not only a band running
two kilometers inland, but also the offshore
areas. Second, the LTTE is resisting the GSL
idea that the mechanism will come into being
through a Presidential decision. Sri Lanka is a
democracy with rule of law, Dhanapala said, and
they must follow certain procedures.
Nonetheless, he said, the GSL was willing to be
very flexible on these issues. They could not
compromise, however, on the composition of the
committees which will be formed under the
mechanism to administer reconstruction. They
have agreed that the high-level committee will
have three members: one Tamil, one Muslim and
one Sinhalese. On the regional committees,
however, there is disagreement. The LTTE wants
six Tamils, three Muslims and two Sinhalese--a
built-in Tamil majority. The GSL wants five
instead of six Tamils, with some sort of
tiebreaker provision. The GSL also wants to
build in minority safeguards, so a majority
cannot override the concerns of an ethnic
minority.


4. (C) Dhanapala emphasized that he thought all
of these issues could be resolved if the LTTE
were willing to compromise. He had been
expecting Pulidevan for several days, but he had
not yet shown up. Ambassador commented that we
and all other interested parties wanted very
much for the mechanism negotiation to succeed.
He said that there was probably a disconnect in
experience and outlook. Veteran international
negotiators like Dhanapala and Foreign Minister
Kadirgamar were used to teasing out subtleties
and trying to resolve them. The unsophisticated
LTTE took a much less nuanced and more
straightforward approach. Dhanapala agreed and
said he thought it would be helpful if the
LTTE's more sophisticated expatriate advisers
returned to assist them.


5. (C) COMMENT: Dhanapala obviously wants to
make the mechanism negotiations work, but he
takes a strong stand on points relating to the
sovereignty of the government. As mentioned
above, Dhanapala's somewhat legalistic approach
probably does not mesh well with the LTTE's
approach. Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar (who
is in bed with the flu these days) will have his
hands full in trying to keep this on track.
Norwegian Special Envoy Eric Solheim will be
here next week; perhaps he will have some luck.
LUNSTEAD