SRI LANKA: VERBAL AGREEMENT REACHED ON TMVP

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001108 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM MOPS EAID CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: VERBAL AGREEMENT REACHED ON TMVP DISARMAMENT Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE D' AFFAIRES JAMES R. MOORE FOR REAS ONS: 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (SBU) According to IOM Chief of Party Mohammed Abdiker, on December 1 at a meeting convened by Secretary of Defense Gothabaya Rajapaksa, TMVP Commander and Member of Parliament Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan ("Karuna Amman") and Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chadrakanthan ("Pillaiyan") echoed the Defense Secretary's support for a reintegration program TMVP members that would be run by IOM. The project aims to provide vocational training for recipients. Some will also receive Korean language training and be sent to South Korea through the Bureau of Foreign Employment. Rajapaksa informed the attendees, including Abdiker, that his Ministry would issue a clearance certificate for each ex-combatant before they are admitted to the reintegration project. Karuna asked that 3000 female ex-cadres be given priority to enter the program while Pillaiyan had previously forwarded a list of 1300 male ex-cadres who he asked to be prioritized. In an earlier letter to Abdiker, Pillaiyan indicated that the total number of ex-combatants he hoped could take advantage of the program was between 5000 and 6000. On December 3, MFA Director of Multilateral Affairs Prasad Kariyawasam told Charge that there was concern within the Government that if the TMVP fully disarmed, its members would be highly vulnerable to targeted LTTE strikes, but added that such concern would not deter the Government from moving forward with this program. ¶2. (C) Comment: Post welcomes this movement toward demobilization of the TMVP. USAID is exploring opportunities to support the IOM project, perhaps giving it the initial funding it needs to process the first 1000 ex-combatants. We hope that other donors will join, particularly because USAID is unable to assist demobilization or disarmament activities that might be necessary before ex-combatants take advantage of the reintegration program. Until now, post has avoided contact with Karuna, who has a violent past as an LTTE commander and who recently spent six months in a British prison for entering the country on a fraudulent passport. We are, however, now prepared to engage the TMVP leader on the issue of TMVP disarmament since it is a necessary pre-condition for lasting stability in the East. End Comment Moore