SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ROUNDS UP ALLEGED SINHALESE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000264

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ROUNDS UP ALLEGED SINHALESE
LTTE COLLABORATORS


Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On February 5, three Sinhalese members of
the Railway Services Trade Union disappeared. Three days
after the abduction, Defense Spokesman Rambukwella announced
that the Army had arrested the three men on allegations that
they had links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE). Meanwhile, newspapers are reporting a threat to the
President that has been linked to the chairman of a state
organization, who is also a prominent businessman and
newspaper publisher closely associated with recently sacked
Minister of Ports and Aviation Mangala Samaraweera (septel).
All signs point to Tiran Alles, Chairman of the Sri Lanka
Aviation Authority. A journalist contact told us that Alles
is at the center of a web involving Sinhalese support to the
LTTE. End Summary.

Sinhalese Arrested for LTTE Links
--------------


2. (C) On Monday February 5, three Sinhalese members of the
Railway Services Trade Union disappeared. Lalith Seneviratne
and Nihal Senasinghe are journalists for Akuna, the
now-defunct official newspaper of the trade union. Sisira
Priyankara is a graphic designer for the paper and treasurer
of the trade union. Seneviratne's wife filed an abduction
report at the Aturugiriya police station the following day,
reporting that five to seven men dressed in plain clothes,
claiming to be members of the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID),entered the family home and took her
husband away. Aturugiriya Police reported that the CID
confirmed that they had not arrested Seneviratne.


3. (C) However, three days after the abduction, Defense
Spokesman Rambukwella announced that the Army had arrested
the three men on allegations that they had links to the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Rambukwella said
that information provided by the three men led to the seizure
of weapons, explosives and ammunition from a house in
Kalutara. The men reportedly confessed that an LTTE contact
paid them over USD 12,000 and helped them obtain three
consignments of weapons and explosives for operations in and
around Colombo. The men also confessed to being responsible
for a string of bombings in Kiribathgoda, Wattala, Nugegoda,
and Mount Lavinia. They further admitted to undergoing
weapons training, physical training and explosives training
at an LTTE facility. The men allegedly provided the names of
other Sinhalese and Tamils working with the LTTE. The
government promised to continue making arrests as necessary
to protect national security. Local media and other
observers, however, expressed concern about the method by
which the men were arrested, pointing out that arresting
authorities in this case failed to follow due process,
including informing family members about the arrest and
detention of their relatives.

Conspiracy Against the President
--------------


4. (C) Meanwhile, newspapers are reporting a threat planted
on a pro-Rajapaksa Web site that says the "head of Government
will be finished in three months." This threat to the
President has been linked to the chairman of a state
organization, who is also a prominent businessman and
newspaper publisher closely associated with recently sacked
Minister of Ports and Aviation Mangala Samaraweera. All
signs point to Tiran Alles, Chairman of the Sri Lanka
Aviation Authority, often rumored to be the GSL's
behind-the-scenes link to the LTTE. Local papers say the
security forces will soon arrest this individual on charges
of conspiracy and links to the LTTE. The President
announced at a ruling party meeting over the weekend that

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there is an LTTE conspiracy to assassinate him.


5. (C) An Embassy journalist contact told a PAO FSN that
Tiran Alles is at the center of a web involving Sinhalese
support to the LTTE. According to the contact, Alles is the
publisher of the new Sinhala weekly Maudima, a great
commercial success that has contributed to Samaraweera's
increasing popularity, but which is strongly anti-Rajapaksa.
About 4 months ago, a freight forwarder for Aero Lanka was
arrested and gave up information on part of an LTTE cell.
Information from this arrest led to the arrest of a female
journalist for Maudima who had links to the LTTE.
Information from her arrest led to the arrest of the three
Sinhalese men who worked for the trade union. All of these
individuals can be traced back to Alles through his ties to
the Maudima newspaper or the Aviation Authority. Our contact
also alleges that Alles has a sleeper cell of 20 LTTE cadres
working at the Bandaranaike International Airport, but the
role of the sleeper cell is unclear.


6. (S) COMMENT: Alles was previously trusted by the
President to carry messages to the LTTE. Rumors abound that
Alles helped coordinate the LTTE's efforts to prevent voting
in LTTE controlled areas, widely believed to be the reason
for Rajapaksa's electoral victory. However, the implication
that Rajapaksa's former Foreign Minister, through the
connection to Maudima, may be involved in an assassination
plot against the President strikes us as improbably baroque.
It unclear whether the President is cracking down on Alles
to get back at Samaraweera, who he sees as disloyal, or if
the LTTE was actually employing Alles in an attempt to
eliminate the President. The three-day gap before the army
owned up to having the men in custody is troubling. The
arrests of the Sinhalese men by the army occurred in much the
same manner as other recent abductions, which have been
attributed to government special forces, members of the
LTTE-breakaway Karuna group, and the Eelam People's
Democratic Party (EPDP). In previous cases, the government
and security forces have denied involvement, just as they did
initially with these three men. In view of the similarity of
methods, the official denials that the GSL forces have also
been involved in the extralegal detentions and disappearances
now appear suspect.
BLAKE