Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07COLOMBO168
2007-01-29 12:40:00
SECRET
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

SRI LANKA: NAVY CLAIMS IT AVERTS TAMIL TIGER

Tags:  PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE 
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RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION PRIORITY
S E C R E T COLOMBO 000168 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, MCC FOR S GROFF, D NASSIRY, E BURKE
AND F REID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NAVY CLAIMS IT AVERTS TAMIL TIGER
ATTACK ON COLOMBO PORT


Classified By: DCM James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4 (b,d).

S E C R E T COLOMBO 000168

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, MCC FOR S GROFF, D NASSIRY, E BURKE
AND F REID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NAVY CLAIMS IT AVERTS TAMIL TIGER
ATTACK ON COLOMBO PORT


Classified By: DCM James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (S) Summary: Government of Sri Lanka military sources
described to DATT on January 27 an attempted Tamil Tiger
(LTTE) attack on the Colombo Port that morning in which the
Navy destroyed three suspected "Sea Tiger" vessels, two of
them suicide boats, disguised as fishing craft. Local
weekend press gave prominent, straightforward coverage to the
incident and a Navy spokesman's official account of it.
However, a police source (strictly protect) told RSO that
three men in custody from one of the alleged Tiger boats
appeared to be ordinary fishermen from Negombo. The scenario
of the LTTE trying to pull off an attack against a
significant economic target in the South is, in fact, highly
likely. While the consensus is that this was a foiled LTTE
attack, the information provided by the police casts some
doubt on the Sri Lankan military's version of events. End
summary.


2. (C) Government of Sri Lanka military sources described to
DATT January 27 an attempted Tamil Tiger (LTTE) attack on the
Colombo Port that morning in which the Navy destroyed three
suspected "Sea Tiger" vessels, two of them suicide boats,
disguised as fishing craft. The source claimed three 8-meter
LTTE boats approached the Colombo Port High Security Zone
(HSZ) at approximately 5:30 AM on January 27. According to
the official version, when the boats failed to stop on order,
the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) fired. The alleged Sea Tiger boats
reportedly returned fire. The Navy said it later destroyed
two boats six and eleven nautical miles, respectively, from
the port, after a maritime chase. A third boat, the Navy
said, took cover behind a Green Line commercial ship, the
"Pride of Peloponnesia," causing damage to the ship as it
exploded - either because of SLN fire or by intentionally
blowing itself up, according to DATT's source. The SLN
rescued three suspected LTTE cadres from the water and turned
them over to the police.


3. (S) A police source (strictly protect) told RSO on January
27 at approximately 8:30 AM that the three men in custody
from one of the alleged Tiger boats appeared to be ordinary
fishermen from Negombo, a suburb of Colombo -- implying that
at least one of the boats the SLN had attacked was indeed a
fishing vessel. Requesting strict confidentiality, the
police indicated that they had instructions to hold the three
fishermen in order to ensure their silence about the
incident. Source reconfirmed this information to RSO on the
evening of January 29.


4. (S) COMMENT: It is not surprising that that the LTTE
would attempt a major attack on a southern target following
recent military defeats in the East. This may well be what,
in fact, happened. However, aside from the question about
the three rescued fishemen, there are some parts of the
official version that do not immediately add up. It is not
clear why the military would simply turn over captured LTTE
cadres to the police without interrogating them at length, as
is the usual practice. Second, it is counterintuitive that a
small suicide vessel blowing up in close proximity to a large
merchant ship would cause damage only to cargo containers on
board, whose doors were blown open, without damaging the hull
of the ship (as official sources report). That type of
damage would seem more consistent with an exploding artillery
shell. Embassy will continue to seek clarification of the
incident. It is too soon to conclude definitively that all
three craft involved were LTTE boats or that one or more of
the alleged boats were legitimate fishing vessels.
BLAKE