FINLAND AND SRI LANKA CONTACT GROUP

C O N F I D E N T I A L HELSINKI 000885 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2016 TAGS: MARR PHUM PINS PREL PTER CE FI SUBJECT: FINLAND AND SRI LANKA CONTACT GROUP REF: STATE 140812 Classified By: EU Section Chief Kenneth Kolb, for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d) ¶1. (U) MFA Sri Lanka desk officer Marita Meranto assured emboff on September 4 that Finland would attend the Sri Lanka Contact Group's experts meeting in Washington on September ¶27. She said that because of the press of business arising from Finland's EU presidency, Finland's representative would probably come from its Washington embassy. She requested more information on the meeting's agenda as it became available. ¶2. (C) Meranto returned August 31 from a week of consultations in Sri Lanka. She relayed that a military commander had told her that a ceasefire at this point in time would be "suicide" for GOSL be cause the LTTE had become "too strong" during the break in hostilities. He was surprised when Meranto asked how long he thought military actions would continued but replied that it would not/not be "months and months." ¶3. (C) Finland and the EU continue to be seized with the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. Meranto noted that the dismissal of NGOs from the disputed areas in the north and east prevented both the delivery of aid and the monitoring of human rights violations. She said that organizations outside of the government urged the international community to press the GOSL, and suggested using aid as a point of leverage and means of signalling dissatisfaction with its actions. Meranto opined that since the GOSL was sensitive to its image in the international arena, continued international pressure may yield results. ¶4. (U) An EU experts meeting in Brussels will ponder next steps on September 6. WARE