FOREIGN MINISTER TO STRESS DEMOCRACY, NEED TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000001

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2015
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS KIRF CE LTTE
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER TO STRESS DEMOCRACY, NEED TO
CRACK DOWN ON LTTE FINANCING IN VISIT TO WASHINGTON

REF: 2005 COLOMBO 2179

Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead for reasons 1.4 (b) and (
d).


1. (C) Summary. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera
plans to brief Secretary Rice on Sri Lanka's efforts to
maintain its long democratic tradition as it grapples with
a bloody, brutal terrorist challenge and to ask for a
strong effort to ensure the LTTE is not raising funds in
the U.S. He described President Rajapakse's late December
visit to India as a success although the Indians had made
clear they did not desire a "visible" role in the peace
process. The FM confirmed that Norwegian peace envoy
Solheim is expected in Colombo on January 23 and he
welcomed a mid-January visit by U/S Burns. End Summary

Indians Decline "Visible" Peace Process Role
--------------


2. (C) The Ambassador and DCM (notetaker) called on
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera at his residence
December 31 to discuss his upcoming visit to Washington and
the status of the peace process. Asked about President
Rajapakse's just-concluded official visit to India,
Samaraweera said "it went off well." The President had
seemed to hit it off with Indian PM Singh and the two had
had a long one-on-one session (about which the FM did not
appear to have been briefed). Samaraweera said the long
official statement had included good Indian language
calling on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to
respond positively to the government's offer of talks to
strengthen the cease-fire agreement (CFA). Asked what had
transpired during the visit about India's role in the Sri
Lankan peace process, Samaraweera said the President had
made clear that a "more active" Indian role would be
welcome but the Indians had made equally clear that, in
their view, they could be most useful if their role was not
too visible. Samaraweera surmised that this position is
driven to some extent by internal Indian parliamentary
politics in that the government depends on support in
Parliament from Tamil political parties and thus must couch
its Sri Lanka policy accordingly. He commented that it was
clear to him that most Tamils in Tamil Nadu did not have a
knowledgeable understanding of events in Sri Lanka since
they are not covered accurately in the biased local
language press in Tamil Nadu. Samaraweera mused that the
GSL needed to mount a public diplomacy campaign in Tamil
Nadu to get across an accurate picture of the government's
efforts on the peace process. He said he might visit Tamil
Nadu at some point after he gets back from Washington.
Samaraweera said, to his knowledge, there had been no
discussion of the long-proposed Defense Agreement during
Rajapakse's visit to India.

Better Acceptance of Norwegians in the South
--------------


3. (C) The Foreign Minister confirmed press reports that
Norwegian peace envoy Eric Solheim is expected back in Sri
Lanka on January 23. It is possible that Samaraweera will
meet up with Solheim (perhaps in Dubai) on his way back
from the U.S. but that is not confirmed. Samaraweera
complained mildly that the Norwegians "use publicity too
much" when backroom delicacy might be more appropriate but
agreed with the Ambassador that Solheim's statement earlier
in the week had been helpful. Samaraweera also conceded
that Solheim has been blamed for "failures in the peace
process which is not fair" but said that much of that has
stemmed from what is in the South perceived as the weakness
of the "Norwegian" Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission. Having a
non-Norwegian SLMM head would help in that regard.

Need to Hold On To Progress in the South
--------------


4. (C) Samaraweera asserted that Rajapakse's government
has moved the peace process in the Sinhalese South further
than any previous government. The radical JVP's acceptance
of CFA talks outside of Sri Lanka is evidence of this. Now
the task, the FM continued, is to hold that progress in the
face of mounting and bloody provocation by the LTTE. He
said the LTTE and the GSL are still stuck on the venue for
CFA talks with the Tigers insisting on Oslo and the GSL on
Asia, probably Japan. Samaraweera conceded that the venue
issue could be seen as "trivial" at a time when violence is
mounting but said that, if the GSL is seen as conceding on
the venue issue to the Tigers, the domestic political
consequences could be significant. The FM agreed with the
Ambassador on the needed for careful use of nation-building
terminology. "Unitary" is seen by the LTTE as codeword for
a centralized Sinhalese majority state with no concessions
for Tamils, even when packaged as "unitary state with
maximum devolution" as Rajapakse had phrased it during his
India visit. "United," on the other hand, is widely
understood to mean one country but with political space for
all. Samaraweera said that in some ways the most baggage-
free term is "undivided." He commented that during the
India visit, an Indian federalism expert had given an
illuminating briefing on India's federal system.


5. (C) Samaraweera told the Ambassador that all is not
negative with regard to the LTTE. During an (unpublicized)
December 30 visit to Kilinochchi, Tiran Alles, the head of
the new reconstruction authority (RADA),had held
encouraging discussions with both the LTTE and with local
government officials on the reconstruction of schools and
housing, both for war and tsunami displaced. Samaraweera
commented, "If the LTTE were hell-bent on war, they
wouldn't be talking reconstruction."

Relations with Washington
--------------


6. (C) Turning to his Washington schedule, Samaraweera
said that he planned to build on the themes former Foreign
Minister Kadirgamar had raised with Secretary Rice six
months ago. In particular, he plans to underline Sri
Lanka's impressive, unbroken democratic record since
independence and point out the challenge of dealing with a
bloody, ruthless terrorist group through a democratic
process. Many countries are struggling to become
democracies, Samaraweera continued, whereas Sri Lanka is
trying to keep its democracy in the face of a brutal
terrorist threat. The Ambassador commented that the issue
was one with wide implications for other terrorist
situations around the world. Samaraweera said he also
planned to brief the Secretary on Sri Lanka's efforts to
crack down on LTTE fundraising around the world and urge
that everything possible be done to prevent it in the U.S.
The FM took the Ambassador's point that religious freedom
issues could well come up, especially on Capitol Hill, and
said he would be glad to discuss Sri Lanka's record. He
noted that anti-conversion legislation "will not pass."
The Ambassador advised Samaraweera that U/S Burns might
visit Sri Lanka in mid-January. The FM said he expected to
be in Colombo in that timeframe and looked forward to
meeting the U/S.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Though a neophyte to diplomacy, the Minister seemed
well-focused on the Washington visit and ready to engage
substantively. We expect the main request he will make will
be for greater emphasis on hindering Tiger fundraising in
the US--we endorse that request. At a time when the Tigers
are showing increasing belligerency, hitting their overseas
moneyline might be one of the few effective ways to
influence them. End Comment
LUNSTEAD