GERMANY: DEMARCHE ON EU LISTING OF TAMIL TIGERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 001171 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS (DBROWN, LLAMBERT),S/CT (TKUSHNER), EUR/PGI (LREASOR),IO/PSC (BFITZGERALD) E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2016 TAGS: EUN PGOV PREL PTER KTFN GM SUBJECT: GERMANY: DEMARCHE ON EU LISTING OF TAMIL TIGERS REF: A. STATE 66523 ¶B. STATE 65395 ¶C. VIENNA 1206 Classified By: Acting Counselor for Global Affairs Mark Koumans for rea sons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Global Affairs officer delivered ref A demarche to Anke Reiffenstuhl, desk officer in the German MFA Counterterrorism Office, on April 28. Reiffenstuhl said after the recent developments in Sri Lanka, especially the assassination attempt, Germany is in the process of hardening its policy toward LTTE in the EU. Previously unopposed to the EU listing, Germany is now actively promoting designation. German officials plan to press for inclusion of LTTE as a terrorist organization in the EU Clearinghouse with the purpose of giving a clear sign to the LTTE. ¶2. (C) Global Affairs Acting Counselor also spoke with MFA counterterrorism Director Matthias Sonn (Please Strictly Protect). He elaborated he would approach the EU Presidency about convening a meeting of the EU Clearinghouse to discuss the LTTE on April 15. He is not, however, overly optimistic that his push for EU listing of the LTTE will be successful and cited previous Italian and Swedish opposition that he did not believe could be easily overcome. CLOUD