SRI LANKA LOOKS FOR HELP FROM INDONESIA ON TAMIL

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001925 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, PM AND ISN E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2016 TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA LOOKS FOR HELP FROM INDONESIA ON TAMIL TIGER ARMS SHIPMENTS REF: JAKARTA 12832 Classified By: DCM James R. Moore for reasons 1.4(b, d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Sri Lankan MFA Director General for Southeast Asia, who accompanied the Prime Minister on his visit to Indonesia, gave us a readout of their meeting with the Indonesian President on Tamil Tiger activities in the region. Indonesia has become a major transshipment and logistics point for illegal Tiger shipments to northeastern Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankans hope to build a cooperative relationship in the Indonesian government to counter this arms trafficking in the he future. End summary. ¶2. (C) Sri Lankan MFA Director General Ranjith Gunaratna briefed DCM and Pol Chief on November 13 regarding Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake's October 26 meeting in Jakarta with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). The Sri Lankans turned over a secret report (excerpted below) that the Defense Ministry had prepared on Tamil Tiger (LTTE) activities in Indonesia. The Sri Lankans made the case, Gunaratna reported, that Indonesia had become a major logistical point for the LTTE, especially for illegal arms shipments destined for the tigers' insurgency in northeastern Sri Lanka. According to Gunaratna, SBY listened carefully and then asked his ministers and senior staff to cooperate fully with the Sri Lankan government. ¶3. (C) The Sri Lankan brief states that Indonesia has become a primary transshipment and logistics point for Tamil Tiger arms procurements. Gunaratne told us that Sri Lanka envisions signing a defense MoU with Indonesia focused on cooperation against Tamil Tiger activities in Indonesia and the region. He noted that Sri Lanka has existing arrangements of this type with Thailand and Cambodia. Other than Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, and Malaysia are the main countries of concern for arms trafficking to the LTTE, he said, with most of the bank accounts apparently located in Malaysia. ¶4. (C) Gunaratne said there were possible connections to other networks in Indonesia, including the Free Aceh Movement and Jemaah Islamiyah. However, it was likely this simply reflected commercial realities in the international market for clandestine weapons - that some of the same middlemen were servicing various terrorist organizations. Gunaratna pointed out that in any case, there was little if any ideological consistency between Islamic radical groups and the Tamil Tigers. EXCERPTS FROM DEFENSE MINISTRY REPORT TO INDONESIA -------------- -------------- ¶5. (S) "The LTTE has approximately 15 ) 20 ships/trawlers and uses these for transporting fuel and warlike items from overseas to Sri Lanka and also engages in human and drug smuggling operations. Most of these ships are operating in the harbors of South East Asian countries, particularly in Indonesia, in the guise of merchant ships. Most of the crew in these ships including captains are LTTE cadres holding forged passports, passing off as nationals of India and Bangladesh... ¶6. (S) "(The) LTTE uses Indonesia as one of its main coordinating centers for arms smuggling and its shipping network. Arms dealers obtain arms/warlike items through the suppliers using forged end user certificates and inform the LTTE coordinators in Indonesia regarding plans for collection and the point of collection. The LTTE particularly makes use of harbors in Jakarta as transit points to facilitate its COLOMBO 00001925 002 OF 002 smuggling operations from the West to East and vice-versa." ¶7. (S) "The cooperation of the Indonesian authorities in the following areas is solicited: - Sharing of intelligence - Prevention of LTTE activities in Indonesian waters - Preventing the LTTE from using Indonesia as an external support base for its direct/transit illegal and terrorist activities - The arrest of the main LTTE figures involved in terrorist activities..." ¶8. (C) COMMENT: Law enforcement officers and military analysts here believe the Tamil Tigers have been shifting their arms trafficking operations to Southeast Asia for some time -- mainly because they are no longer welcome in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is encouraging that Sri Lanka is reaching out to its neighbors to try to stem the flow of arms to the LTTE insurgents. However, as Gunaratne pointed out, Sri Lanka is just at the beginning of this process: "We should have done this years ago." The GSL has made contact with the Indonesian government at the highest level, but all of the hard work remains of investigating and shutting down the Tiger networks in Indonesia, not to mention the other countries in the region. Certainly corruption is an important enabling factor. The LTTE seems to be hedging its bets in Southeast Asia and would likely find other havens if Indonesia became too difficult to do business in. BLAKE