SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGERS THREATEN WITHDRAWAL AFTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000941 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA, SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2016 TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGERS THREATEN WITHDRAWAL AFTER EU BAN ANNOUNCEMENT, BUT AGREE TO ATTEND OSLO TALKS ON ROLE OF SLMM REF: COLOMBO 843 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission. 1.4(b,d) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) On June 1, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to go to Oslo for June 8-9 talks with a Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) delegation led by Peace Secretariat Secretary General Palitha Kohona to discuss the role of the Scandanavian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) despite earlier threats to back out of the peace process after the EU "ban." LTTE Political leader S. P. Tamilselvan stated he wants to go beyond talks on the SLMM in Olso to discuss disarmament of paramilitary groups, particularly the Karuna faction, and Tiger use of the sea. Meanwhile, a GSL investigation into the Tiger massacre of 12 Sinhalese civilian laborers near the Colombo-Batticaloa highway on May 29 indicates that underage soldiers perpetrated the attack, although UNICEF has yet to confirm this. As seen previously, the Tigers appear to be proceeding on a dual track of conceding to talks with the GSL while simultaneously attacking government forces and civilians in attempts to provoke a major backlash. End Summary. -------------- Talking About Talks -------------- ¶2. (SBU) After the May 31 announcement of the European Union (EU) ban on the LTTE, the Tigers threatened to boycott talks with the GSL. On June 2, however, they announced they would send a delegation to Oslo to discuss the Ceasefire Agreement, particularly the role of the SLMM. The GSL arranged for LTTE political leader S. P. Tamilselvan and the five other members of the Tiger delegation to be airlifted from Kilinochchi to Colombo in an Air Force helicopter, a positive sign given the intransigence both parties displayed regarding transportation prior to the scheduled second round of Geneva talks in April.(Reftel) ¶3. (SBU) On June 2 at an All Party Conference attended by representatives from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) as well as several smaller parties, President Rajapaksa cited the EU ban, the strong Co-Chairs' statement, and the LTTE's worsening reputation among the international community as leverage for negotiation. According to media reports, he asked Sinhalese parties to propose a framework for devolution, and announced he would soon appoint an advisory panel to draw up a roadmap to that end. ¶4. (SBU) A June 3 article on the LTTE's Tamilnet website quoted LTTE Peace Secretariat head S. Pulidevan as claiming that in Oslo the Tigers would assert "for the last time" that the GOSL had not fulfilled its commitments after six rounds of talks. In the same article, LTTE political wing leader S.P. Tamilselvan stated he will raise the GOSL's commitment to disarmament of groups in areas under its control, particularly the Karuna faction, per the agreement signed at Geneva in February. -------------- The Karuna Factor -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The GOSL continues to deny links with the Karuna faction, although Peace Secretariat Chief Kohona told the BBC Sinhala service on May 31 that President Rajapaksa had ordered the security forces to stop interacting with the COLOMBO 00000941 002 OF 003 Karuna faction, a statement which Kahona was later asked to backtrack. ¶6. (U) In a June 4 interview with the Sunday Times, Karuna asserted his newly named Tamil Makkal Vidutalai Pulikal (TMVP, or Tamil People's Liberation Tigers) is not a paramilitary group as defined by the CFA. "The Donor Co-chairs should understand we were part of the LTTE when the ceasefire was signed and hence consider ourselves part of this agreement," he said, adding: "We are a breakaway faction of the LTTE: The Norwegians have to deal with us on the same footing." -------------- -------------- Tigers Break Cages, Terrorize Civilians -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) An initial government investigation of the May 29 massacre of 12 civilians (in Eastern Sri Lanka) near Polonoruwa by suspected LTTE forces indicated underage soldiers carried out the attack. Defense Ministry spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella claimed the LTTE executed the attack as part of a training exercise for child recruits. (Note: UNICEF is not able to deny or confirm this claim yet.) ¶8. (U) On June 3, two separate claymore mine explosions killed two soldiers, two suspected-LTTE cadres and one civilian in the North-East of the island. An army vehicle escaped a third claymore explosion along the Batticaloa-Ampara road. A fourth explosion in Batticaloa injured one soldier. On June 4, Tamilnet published photographs of "civilian self-defense training" for "10,000" in Kilinochchi, a clear propaganda effort to convey that civilians under their control are ready to fight in a return to war. ¶9. (U) On June 4, eight LTTE cadres escaped from the Batticaloa jail. Nihal Karunaratne, Deputy Inspector of Police for Batticaloa district, told BBC Sinhala service that the LTTE inmates produced a grenade and pistol while bathing outside of the prison building to force their escape, indicating assistance from prison employees. -------------- -------------- Who's Afraid of the International Community? -------------- -------------- ¶10. (C) Political analysts reacted strongly - and predictably -- to the EU ban and the May 30 Co-Chairs' statement, while offering less attention to A/S Boucher's June 1 visit in which he repeated the themes in the Co-Chairs' declaration. (Reftel) Moderating staunchly nationalist views on June 4, The Island newspaper's political analyst Tisaranee Gunasekara noted the international community desires "an alternative to the LTTE, committed to pluralist democracy and human rights: If the world sees a narrowing gap between Sri Lanka and the LTTE due to our unwillingness to share power and to respect the basic human rights of the Tamil people, the world can yet become a less hostile place for the Tigers." ¶11. (C) Eastern University professor and advisor to the National Peace Council Dr. T. Jayasingham told the government-owned Sunday Oberver: "It's very easy to ban the LTTE but the real question is, how do you pressure the government to address the Tamil problem?" Jayasingham had noted in a June 1 meeting with SCA A/S Boucher that since the GSL rendered the LTTE "a political negative," the state must in no uncertain terms address the Tamil issue fairly and proactively. ¶12. (C) LTTE Theoretician Anton Balasingham responded to the EU ban in an interview with the mainstream Sunday Times, COLOMBO 00000941 003 OF 003 opining, "Discredited, humiliated and globally isolated by world governments, the LTTE leadership may stiffen its attitude and adopt a singular, individualist approach, as if it is freed from the constraints of international norms and pressures." -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) In typical fashion, the LTTE has responded to the latest avalanche of international pressure on a familiar track of acceding to talks with the GSL while simultaneously attacking government forces and civilians in an attempt to provoke a major backlash. What is not yet clear is whther the GSL will use the "victory" of the EU ban to put a substantial, visionary final settlement proposal on the table. LUNSTEAD