SRI LANKA: NORWAY BRIEFS CO-CHAIR AMBASSADORS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001824 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/INS, USPACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/03/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV NO CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NORWAY BRIEFS CO-CHAIR AMBASSADORS ON GENEVA OUTCOME REF: A. OSLO 1352 ¶B. COLOMBO 1819 Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar briefed Co-Chair Ambassadors November 3 on the results of the Geneva Peace Talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. Brattskar's briefing tracked closely with that provided by the Norwegians to Embassy Oslo (ref A). Following are some additional points and impressions from Brattskar. -- Brattskar was impressed that LTTE Leader Thamilselvan has "grown in stature" now that he was no longer the junior negotiator to Balasingham. He also commented that Tamil immigration lawyer Kumar (who is an AmCit and drafter of the Interim Self Governing Arrangements) also played a constructive role, particularly in private meetings. -- Brattskar noted his impression that the government did not come prepared to talk substance. They had a framework, but did not have authority to interact on the details of that framework in ither the direct talks or the side meetings thattook place with the Norwegians. To give some meat to this part of the agenda the GSL agreed to a Nowegian suggestion that the GSL brief on the UNP/SLFP talks. Minister Bogollagama told the LTTE that the government expects to conclude the all-party conference process that they hoped will result in a devolution plan by January of 2007 and would be prepared to discuss such a plan at whatever negotiation is scheduled after that. -- The LTTE for its part wanted to focus on humanitarian issues, the ceasefire agreement, and the status of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission. The GSL did not want to discuss the latter two issues in part because they had no faith in the LTTE's willingness to sustain a ceasefire. Brattskar also noted the LTTE was willing to talk about political issues, which was a welcome departure from previous meetings where they had insisted on discussing the CFA and humanitarian issues before delving into political ones. Although the government made much of the fact that the LTTE delegation did not focus on the demerger issue, Brattskar downplayed the significance of that, explaining that for tactical reasons the LTTE wanted to defer discussions of sensitive issues such as the demerger to future negotiations. -- Brattskar confirmed that the A-9 road issue almost scuttled the talks. Government said they would be prepared to discuss the matter at the next negotiating round. The LTTE initially told the Norwegians that they would not return to the second day of talks in Geneva unless the GSL was prepared to engage on the A-9. Following extensive side discussions with the Norwegians, the LTTE backed down, but nonetheless insisted they would not attend a fresh round of negotiations until the A-9 matter could be cleared up. ¶2. (C) At this point co-chairs turned their attention to the aerial bombardment of a facility immediately adjacent to a hospital in Killinochchi on November 2 (septel). ¶3. (C) Comment: A UN team arrives shortly in Colombo to try to work out modalities for UN and/or ICRC shipments of humanitarian supplies to Jaffna. As part of their talks the team will also seek to make progress on the A-9 issue. BLAKE