Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08COLOMBO86
2008-01-23 07:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION STIRRING
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000086
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER OREP CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION STIRRING
DEBATE IN SRI LANKA
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000086
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER OREP CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION STIRRING
DEBATE IN SRI LANKA
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C) Summary. Recent comments by US Presidential
candidates Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama
have been a catalyst for open discussion over what the US
presidential election will mean for Sri Lanka. Tamil press
and politicians have generally favored the perceived nuanced
position of the leading Democratic candidates, believing that
a Democratic victory would allow the LTTE to be viewed more
as freedom fighters and less as traditional terrorists.
Sinhalese editorials and politicians, on the other hand, have
worried that a Democratic win in November could lead to a
revamping of US policy towards Sri Lanka, and a harsher view
of the GSL's military campaign against the Tigers. End
Summary.
2. (C) Recent comments by US Presidential candidates Senator
Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama have stirred open
debate in the press and amongst politicians over what the US
Presidential election could mean for US policy towards Sri
Lanka. The flurry of interest began when Senator Clinton
told the UK's 'The Guardian' newspaper in a late October
interview that all terrorist groups should not be treated
equally, but rather in a nuanced fashion. Clinton noted that
it was not possible to place all terrorists in the same
category; some terrorist groups such as the LTTE were
fighting for political goals. Senator Obama commented in an
early January interview reported on Tamilnet, that many
countries, including Sri Lanka, suffered from an inability to
accommodate different types of communities in their societies.
3. (C) Predictably, some in the Tamil and Sinhalese
communities have sought to use the Senators' comments for
their own political advantage. K.V. Balakumaran, a senior
member of LTTE's political wing, noted to a Tamil television
program that Senator Clinton's comments could possibly
indicate an on-going policy review within the US government.
Editorials by Sinhalese authors, on the other hand, have used
the Senators' comments to warn that a Democratic
administration could prove disastrous for the GSL. One
editorial in the prominent Daily Mirror newspaper went so far
as to wonder whether the LTTE's terrorist designation would
be under jeopardy if either Clinton or Obama were to win the
Presidency.
4. (C) Politicians have tended to view the ongoing debate in
the press through the prism of their political parties. UNP
MP Ravi Karunanayake told poloff that he welcomed the
comments by Senator Clinton and Senator Obama because he felt
that they reflected the "more nuanced position of the UNP."
A.M.M. Faaiz, Chairman of the Muslim Peace Secretariat, noted
that while Muslims did not have a view on the debate given
their marginal status in Sri Lankan politics, he believed
that the LTTE was simply buying time till a new
administration changed US policy towards Sri Lanka. JVP
Secretary-General Tilvin Silva told the Embassy that the JVP
SIPDIS
did not have an official position on the ongoing debate as
the JVP did not believe in interference in another country's
affairs.
5. (C) COMMENT: While the US Presidential election probably
remains far from the minds of average Sri Lankans, it has
recently been prominent in the minds of political elites on
both sides of the ethnic war and the press within the
country, especially within Colombo. Senior Presidential
Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, himself an American citizen, has
mentioned to Ambassador on several occasions that he is
closely following the early electoral contests. His close
watch of US politics appears to reflect a concern amongst
some Sinhalese that a new administration could take a harsher
view of the GSL's military campaign. The Tamil presses'
drumming up of the Senators' comments appear to reflect a
hopeful sentiment that US policy towards the LTTE will shift
COLOMBO 00000086 002 OF 002
in the near future.
BLAKE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/17/2018
TAGS: PREL PTER OREP CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION STIRRING
DEBATE IN SRI LANKA
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C) Summary. Recent comments by US Presidential
candidates Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama
have been a catalyst for open discussion over what the US
presidential election will mean for Sri Lanka. Tamil press
and politicians have generally favored the perceived nuanced
position of the leading Democratic candidates, believing that
a Democratic victory would allow the LTTE to be viewed more
as freedom fighters and less as traditional terrorists.
Sinhalese editorials and politicians, on the other hand, have
worried that a Democratic win in November could lead to a
revamping of US policy towards Sri Lanka, and a harsher view
of the GSL's military campaign against the Tigers. End
Summary.
2. (C) Recent comments by US Presidential candidates Senator
Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama have stirred open
debate in the press and amongst politicians over what the US
Presidential election could mean for US policy towards Sri
Lanka. The flurry of interest began when Senator Clinton
told the UK's 'The Guardian' newspaper in a late October
interview that all terrorist groups should not be treated
equally, but rather in a nuanced fashion. Clinton noted that
it was not possible to place all terrorists in the same
category; some terrorist groups such as the LTTE were
fighting for political goals. Senator Obama commented in an
early January interview reported on Tamilnet, that many
countries, including Sri Lanka, suffered from an inability to
accommodate different types of communities in their societies.
3. (C) Predictably, some in the Tamil and Sinhalese
communities have sought to use the Senators' comments for
their own political advantage. K.V. Balakumaran, a senior
member of LTTE's political wing, noted to a Tamil television
program that Senator Clinton's comments could possibly
indicate an on-going policy review within the US government.
Editorials by Sinhalese authors, on the other hand, have used
the Senators' comments to warn that a Democratic
administration could prove disastrous for the GSL. One
editorial in the prominent Daily Mirror newspaper went so far
as to wonder whether the LTTE's terrorist designation would
be under jeopardy if either Clinton or Obama were to win the
Presidency.
4. (C) Politicians have tended to view the ongoing debate in
the press through the prism of their political parties. UNP
MP Ravi Karunanayake told poloff that he welcomed the
comments by Senator Clinton and Senator Obama because he felt
that they reflected the "more nuanced position of the UNP."
A.M.M. Faaiz, Chairman of the Muslim Peace Secretariat, noted
that while Muslims did not have a view on the debate given
their marginal status in Sri Lankan politics, he believed
that the LTTE was simply buying time till a new
administration changed US policy towards Sri Lanka. JVP
Secretary-General Tilvin Silva told the Embassy that the JVP
SIPDIS
did not have an official position on the ongoing debate as
the JVP did not believe in interference in another country's
affairs.
5. (C) COMMENT: While the US Presidential election probably
remains far from the minds of average Sri Lankans, it has
recently been prominent in the minds of political elites on
both sides of the ethnic war and the press within the
country, especially within Colombo. Senior Presidential
Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, himself an American citizen, has
mentioned to Ambassador on several occasions that he is
closely following the early electoral contests. His close
watch of US politics appears to reflect a concern amongst
some Sinhalese that a new administration could take a harsher
view of the GSL's military campaign. The Tamil presses'
drumming up of the Senators' comments appear to reflect a
hopeful sentiment that US policy towards the LTTE will shift
COLOMBO 00000086 002 OF 002
in the near future.
BLAKE