Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06COLOMBO148
2006-01-25 11:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: LTTE AND GOVERNMENT AGREE OF VENUE FOR
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UNCLAS COLOMBO 000148
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: LTTE AND GOVERNMENT AGREE OF VENUE FOR
TALKS.
REF: COLOMBO 0137
UNCLAS COLOMBO 000148
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: LTTE AND GOVERNMENT AGREE OF VENUE FOR
TALKS.
REF: COLOMBO 0137
¶1. (U) Summary: On January 25, the Government of Sri Lanka
(GSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed
to hold talks on implementation of the Cease-Fire Agreement
(CFA) in Geneva, Switzerland in February, according to
various sources. No specific dates or modalities have been
revealed. Norwegian Minister for International Development
and Special Envoy Erik Solheim is expected in Colombo to
brief President Mahinda Rajapaksa followed by a meeting with
co-chair Ambassadors which Ambassador Lunstead will attend.
This news must be tempered by how both parties will approach
the substance of the negotiations. End Summary.
¶2. (U) According to the LTTE mouthpiece Tamilnet.com and
confirmed by Sri Lankan Peace Secretariat Policy Director
Shanaka Jayasekara, the LTTE has agreed to meet with the GSL
for talks on strengthening the CFA in Geneva at an
unspecified date in February. The topic of discussion will
be how to implement the crumbling 2002 CFA. According to
Jayasekara, they are awaiting Special Envoy Solhiem's return
to Colombo on January 25 at 1700 local time to brief the
President regarding the modalities surrounding the future
talks. Ambassador Lunstead is scheduled to meet with Solheim
and the other co-chairs the evening of January 25. Coverage
on Tamilnet included the comment by LTTE chief negotiator and
strategist Anton Balasingham that talks on further matters
could only take place after a complete cessation of the
military's oppression of the Tamil people.
¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: This is a positive step forward to
restoring the CFA. However, so much attention has been placed
on the venue, that the real substance of the talks, likely to
include disarming the Tamil paramilitaries and an end to
Tiger attacks, will be thorny indeed. END COMMENT
LUNSTEAD