BAD PRESS: LTTE KILLS SUSPECTED DISSIDENTS AFTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000569

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/20/2015
TAGS: PTER PGOV CE LTTE
SUBJECT: BAD PRESS: LTTE KILLS SUSPECTED DISSIDENTS AFTER
NEWS REPORTS CAMP LOCATION

REF: A. COLOMBO 0487

B. COLOMBO 0312

Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE. REASON: 1.4 (B,D).


1. (U) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants
attacked a camp of anti-LTTE Karuna loyalists in
Thivichchenei, Polonnaruwa District, in the early morning
hours of March 21, killing at least two suspected Karuna
cadres. (Note: The Sri Lanka Army claims that the two dead
are LTTE cadres.) A five-year-old girl was also reportedly
wounded in the crossfire. Polonnaruwa, which borders on the
ever-volatile Batticaloa District that had once been a Karuna
stronghold, has witnessed increased violence since the
February 7 killing there of Kaushalyan, the LTTE's eastern
poltical leader (Reftels). Because Kaushalyan's killing
occurred in government-controlled territory close to Sri
Lanka Army installations, the LTTE has claimed Government
complicity in the slaying.


2. (U) The attack followed a report in the March 20 edition
of the anti-Government Sunday Leader, which bore the banner
headline "Karuna Camp in Government Controlled Area."
According to the article, the camp, located in a Tamil
village between two Sri Lanka Army checkpoints, has been in
operation for seven months and is "an open secret" to local
residents. Although the villagers reportedly initially
welcomed the sixty or so Karuna cadres, they have since begun
to complain of harassment, including forced conscription of
local youth. After two young men from the village were
executed by unknown assailants on March 14, the villagers
reportedly held a protest against the camp, blocking the road
with the coffins of the two youths. (Note: According to
press and human rights sources, the two young men were
affiliated with the Karuna faction. End note.) The article
noted that the Sri Lanka Army disavows any knowledge of
Karuna camps in the vicinity.


3. (SBU) The editor of a leading independent Tamil daily
confirmed to poloff on March 21 that the presence of the
Karuna camp had long been widely known, including to the
LTTE. He speculated that the publicity surrounding the camp
had embarrassed the LTTE and prompted the attack.


4. (U) The attack on the camp is only the latest development
in ongoing tit-for-tat post-tsunami violence in Batticaloa
and its surrounding area. Since the killings reported
reftels, the depressing litany continues:

--March 7: one Karuna cadre killed in Eravur, 14 km north of
Batticaloa;

--March 8: former member of anti-LTTE paramilitary group
People's Liberation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) killed in
Batticaloa town (in front of police headquarters) by
suspected LTTE;

--March 14: two suspected Karuna cadres killed in Polonnaruwa
(bordering Batticaloa);

--March 14: grenade attack on LTTE office in Batticaloa; no
injuries;

--March 15: one Karuna cadre killed 27 km south of Batticaloa
by suspected LTTE;

--March 17: one Karuna cadre killed in Polonnaruwa (bordering
Batticaloa);

--March 18: one PLOTE cadre shot and injured in Batticaloa
town.


5. (SBU) A Sri Lanka Army contact in at the Army camp in
Welikanda, Polonnaruwa told POL FSN that the Army had
observed about 30 LTTE cadres loitering in the area since
March 18. (He did not, however, confirm the existence of the
Karuna camp.) He acknowledged hearing gun shots in the
vicinity early in the morning of March 21 but did not report
that the Army ventured out to investigate. He identified the
site of the attack as 13 km from the Welikanda Camp.


6. (C) Comment: Unlike embattled Batticaloa, there are no
"uncleared" or LTTE-controlled areas in Polonnaruwa District.
Many interlocutors have speculated that the LTTE's campaign
against the remnants of Karuna's cadres in Batticaloa have
pushed the dissidents, who mark the one-year anniversary of
their break with LTTE headquarters this month, out to the
comparative safety of government-controlled territory in
Polonnaruwa. It is hard to believe that a 60-cadre strong
Karuna camp could exist in government-controlled territory,
13 km away from an army camp, without the Sri Lanka Army's
knowledge, if not support. On the other hand, it is also
hard to believe that if the mainstream press knew about this
camp, that the LTTE did not. Why the LTTE tolerated its
existence until the press report apparently forced the issue
is only the latest confused chapter in the seemingly endless
chronicle of violence and intrigue that has beset the east
for the past year.
LUNSTEAD