Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06COLOMBO1373
2006-08-22 10:49:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: UPDATE ON EMBASSY ACTION TO EVACUATE
how-toVZCZCXRO7293 OO RUEHBI DE RUEHLM #1373 2341049 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 221049Z AUG 06 FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4116 INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 9370 RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 6267 RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 4310 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3135 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9880 RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 3229 RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0330 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2306 RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 6821 RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4685 RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1304
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001373
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: UPDATE ON EMBASSY ACTION TO EVACUATE
HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION STAFF FROM JAFFNA
REF: COLOMBO 1361 AND PREVIOUS
Classified By: James R. Moore, Charge' d'Affaires, for reasons 1.4(b,d)
.
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001373
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: UPDATE ON EMBASSY ACTION TO EVACUATE
HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION STAFF FROM JAFFNA
REF: COLOMBO 1361 AND PREVIOUS
Classified By: James R. Moore, Charge' d'Affaires, for reasons 1.4(b,d)
.
1. (SBU) A ship sailing under the flag of the ICRC is
scheduled to depart the eastern port of Trincomalee August
24, arriving in Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, on August 25,
pending the commitment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) to allow the ship to pass safely. Approximately
150 evacuees are expected to reach Trincomalee Harbor on the
morning of August 26, where they will be transported by
ICRC-flagged buses to Colombo. Government of Sri Lanka (GSL)
authorities will select the first 150 to be evacuated on the
initial ICRC ship; these will likely include 40-plus
expatriate NGO and international agency staff as well as dual
nationals from Canada and the UK. The ICRC will update
diplomatic missions on the process in an August 23 meeting.
2. (C) As of August 22, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) told
U.S.-funded RONCO Australian technical advisor Craig Crosby
that he and his Sri Lankan driver would be given passage from
Jaffna to Trincomalee on a separate military ship departing
this evening. As of the afternoon of August 22, Crosby had
arrived at the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna and was
waiting to board. A RONCO vehicle will escort him from the
eastern port of Trincomalee to Colombo. One or two of three
HALO Trust demining officers in Jaffna (UK-citizen Charles
Kim Parsons and Kosovar-Albanian Blerim Tufa) wish to depart
by a similar arrangement in the next several days by military
ship or helicopter. The third HALO Trust expatriate
(UK-citizen Stephen Pritchard) will remain in Jaffna to
assist the Government Agent with the distribution of food
supplies, but may accept passage out on a Sri Lanka Navy
(SLN) ship in coming weeks.
3. (C) Background: Since fighting between GSL forces and
the LTTE broke out on the Jaffna peninsula on August 11, the
US Embassy has coordinated with other diplomatic missions to
request evacuation assistance for expatriates from the area.
We have been in direct contact with the four US-funded
demining personnel who are based in Jaffna and the one US
citizen, an employee of UNHCR, who wishes to remain in
Jaffna. On August 17, SCA PDAS Steven Mann requested Army
Commander Major General Fonseka to provide military
assistance in evacuating humanitarian mine action personnel
from Jaffna. Embassy followed up with a diplomatic note to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). DATT and poloff have
spoken with Sri Lankan interlocutors daily to keep the
process on track.
MOORE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: UPDATE ON EMBASSY ACTION TO EVACUATE
HUMANITARIAN MINE ACTION STAFF FROM JAFFNA
REF: COLOMBO 1361 AND PREVIOUS
Classified By: James R. Moore, Charge' d'Affaires, for reasons 1.4(b,d)
.
1. (SBU) A ship sailing under the flag of the ICRC is
scheduled to depart the eastern port of Trincomalee August
24, arriving in Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, on August 25,
pending the commitment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) to allow the ship to pass safely. Approximately
150 evacuees are expected to reach Trincomalee Harbor on the
morning of August 26, where they will be transported by
ICRC-flagged buses to Colombo. Government of Sri Lanka (GSL)
authorities will select the first 150 to be evacuated on the
initial ICRC ship; these will likely include 40-plus
expatriate NGO and international agency staff as well as dual
nationals from Canada and the UK. The ICRC will update
diplomatic missions on the process in an August 23 meeting.
2. (C) As of August 22, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) told
U.S.-funded RONCO Australian technical advisor Craig Crosby
that he and his Sri Lankan driver would be given passage from
Jaffna to Trincomalee on a separate military ship departing
this evening. As of the afternoon of August 22, Crosby had
arrived at the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna and was
waiting to board. A RONCO vehicle will escort him from the
eastern port of Trincomalee to Colombo. One or two of three
HALO Trust demining officers in Jaffna (UK-citizen Charles
Kim Parsons and Kosovar-Albanian Blerim Tufa) wish to depart
by a similar arrangement in the next several days by military
ship or helicopter. The third HALO Trust expatriate
(UK-citizen Stephen Pritchard) will remain in Jaffna to
assist the Government Agent with the distribution of food
supplies, but may accept passage out on a Sri Lanka Navy
(SLN) ship in coming weeks.
3. (C) Background: Since fighting between GSL forces and
the LTTE broke out on the Jaffna peninsula on August 11, the
US Embassy has coordinated with other diplomatic missions to
request evacuation assistance for expatriates from the area.
We have been in direct contact with the four US-funded
demining personnel who are based in Jaffna and the one US
citizen, an employee of UNHCR, who wishes to remain in
Jaffna. On August 17, SCA PDAS Steven Mann requested Army
Commander Major General Fonseka to provide military
assistance in evacuating humanitarian mine action personnel
from Jaffna. Embassy followed up with a diplomatic note to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). DATT and poloff have
spoken with Sri Lankan interlocutors daily to keep the
process on track.
MOORE