SRI LANKA: NAVAL VESSEL FIRED ON BY SUSPECTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000669 SIPDIS STATE FOR SA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2015 TAGS: PTER MOPS CE LTTE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NAVAL VESSEL FIRED ON BY SUSPECTED LTTE Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE. REASON: 1.4 (B,D). ¶1. (SBU) Just before 10:00 a.m. local time on April 5, a Sri Lankan naval inshore patrol craft was fired upon as it patrolled coastal waters about 700 meters from shore in the eastern district of Trincomalee. A monitor from the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was on board the vessel (which was flying an SLMM flag in addition to a Sri Lankan Navy flag) at the time of the incident. No one was injured, and the vessel, which sustained some damage, returned to the Sri Lankan Navy base without returning fire. (Note: Additional details in septel IIR.) ¶2. (C) According to SLMM Spokeswoman Helen Olafsdottir, the vessel was hit by about 30-35 rounds of automatic machine gun fire (possibly from an AK-47) off the coast of Muttur in Trincomalee. The Sri Lankan Navy is examining ammunition recovered from the vessel to determine the exact kind of weapon used, she indicated. The SLMM is in contact with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),both locally in Trincomalee and at LTTE headquarters in Kilinochchi. Although the LTTE has yet to acknowledge responsibility--and the possibility of a rogue "agent provacateur" from the rival Karuna faction cannot be completely ruled out--Olafsdottir suggested that the incident could be attributed to "a trigger-happy" individual within the local LTTE. It appears clear, however, that Kilinochchi "doesn't seem to know anything" about the incident, Olafsdottir said. (She was significantly less categorical in denying LTTE knowledge at the local level in Trincomalee.) ¶3. (C) A similar incident had occurred in Trincomalee in January, Olafsdottir reported, although only about four or five shots were fired at that time. The official explanation from the LTTE for that incident was that the vessel had strayed too close to an LTTE firing range. She acknowledged that the firing of 30-35 rounds puts this latest incident on a different order of magnitude. The SLMM is "taking the matter very seriously," she concluded, especially since one of its monitors was on board the vessel, but does not consider it a threat to the Ceasefire Agreement. ¶4. (C) Comment: Although similar incidents may have occurred in the past, 30-35 rounds of sustained automatic machine gunfire (naval sources have estimated that as many as 100 rounds may have been fired) cannot be explained away as warning shots or accidents. The SLMM has long warned privately that it considers Trincomalee the most dangerous area in Sri Lanka. That Kilinochchi seemed unaware of the incident we find little cause for consolation. Whatever further details may emerge, it seems clear that SLMM's assessment of Trincomalee as a potential flashpoint is well founded. LUNSTEAD