Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09COLOMBO278
2009-03-11 12:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: KARUNA JOINS THE SLFP AND BECOMES A
how-toP 111231Z MAR 09 FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9559 INFO AMEMBASSY ATHENS AMEMBASSY DHAKA AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU AMEMBASSY LONDON AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI AMEMBASSY OSLO AMEMBASSY TOKYO AMCONSUL CHENNAI AMCONSUL MUMBAI AMCONSUL TORONTO HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI USMISSION GENEVA DIA WASHINGTON DC NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC USEU BRUSSELS
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000278
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: KARUNA JOINS THE SLFP AND BECOMES A
GOVERNMENT MINISTER
REF: A. COLOMBO 266
B. 08 COLOMBO 1102
C. 08 COLOMBO 1036
D. 08 COLOMBO 975
E. 08 COLOMBO 695
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000278
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: KARUNA JOINS THE SLFP AND BECOMES A
GOVERNMENT MINISTER
REF: A. COLOMBO 266
B. 08 COLOMBO 1102
C. 08 COLOMBO 1036
D. 08 COLOMBO 975
E. 08 COLOMBO 695
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).
1. (U) After months of growing tension between former
comrades-in-arms Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan ("Pillaiyan")
and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan ("Karuna Amman") (refs C, D,
E),Karuna officially left the TMVP (a breakaway faction of
the LTTE formerly known as the "Karuna group") and joined
President Rajapaksa's Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) at a
party meeting on March 9. President Rajapaksa welcomed
Karuna and 2000 TMVP members into the party. The President
promptly elevated Member of Parliament Karuna to the position
of Non-Cabinet Minister of National Integration and
Reconciliation. Karuna's appointment brings the total of
Cabinet, Non-Cabinet, and Deputy Ministers in the Sri Lankan
government to 105.
2. (SBU) Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Pillaiyan
is NOW left to run a smaller but more loyal TMVP from his
base in Trincomalee. Two days before Karuna's official
ascension to the SLFP, Pillaiyan had announced the "official
disarming" of the TMVP during a ceremony in which cadres
loyal to the Chief Minister turned over 150 weapons and 7,000
rounds of ammunition (ref A). At the time, Karuna stated
that his cadres would not disarm until they were full members
of the SLFP (ref A); however, during the ceremony there was
no announcement that Karuna's supporters would surrender
their weapons in a similar fashion.
3. (C) The TMVP had been effectively split for months between
factions loyal to Karuna and Pillaiyan. Ever since Karuna's
return from his detention in the U.K. on immigration fraud
charges (ref E),Pillaiyan and his advisors have expressed
their concern about the role Karuna intended to play both
within the party and in the Eastern Province. Many in the
Eastern Province have told us that they believed Karuna's
role was to keep Pillaiyan in line and subservient to his
political masters in Colombo (ref D). After the November 14
assassination of his close advisor "Ragu," Pillaiyan all but
openly accused Karuna of ordering the hit (ref D). Human
rights groups in the East have told us that they believe
Karuna's cadres, working in coordination with government
security forces, are responsible for the majority of
disappearances, extra-judicial killings and incidents of
torture that have occurred in the province since the defeat
of the LTTE.
4. (C) COMMENT: The test NOW for President Rajapaksa will
be whether he can use Minister Karuna's membership within the
SLFP to achieve progress on child soldiers, the disarmament
of paramilitaries and an improved human rights record that
will bring tangible benefits to the local population of the
East.
BLAKE
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: KARUNA JOINS THE SLFP AND BECOMES A
GOVERNMENT MINISTER
REF: A. COLOMBO 266
B. 08 COLOMBO 1102
C. 08 COLOMBO 1036
D. 08 COLOMBO 975
E. 08 COLOMBO 695
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d).
1. (U) After months of growing tension between former
comrades-in-arms Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan ("Pillaiyan")
and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan ("Karuna Amman") (refs C, D,
E),Karuna officially left the TMVP (a breakaway faction of
the LTTE formerly known as the "Karuna group") and joined
President Rajapaksa's Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) at a
party meeting on March 9. President Rajapaksa welcomed
Karuna and 2000 TMVP members into the party. The President
promptly elevated Member of Parliament Karuna to the position
of Non-Cabinet Minister of National Integration and
Reconciliation. Karuna's appointment brings the total of
Cabinet, Non-Cabinet, and Deputy Ministers in the Sri Lankan
government to 105.
2. (SBU) Eastern Provincial Council Chief Minister Pillaiyan
is NOW left to run a smaller but more loyal TMVP from his
base in Trincomalee. Two days before Karuna's official
ascension to the SLFP, Pillaiyan had announced the "official
disarming" of the TMVP during a ceremony in which cadres
loyal to the Chief Minister turned over 150 weapons and 7,000
rounds of ammunition (ref A). At the time, Karuna stated
that his cadres would not disarm until they were full members
of the SLFP (ref A); however, during the ceremony there was
no announcement that Karuna's supporters would surrender
their weapons in a similar fashion.
3. (C) The TMVP had been effectively split for months between
factions loyal to Karuna and Pillaiyan. Ever since Karuna's
return from his detention in the U.K. on immigration fraud
charges (ref E),Pillaiyan and his advisors have expressed
their concern about the role Karuna intended to play both
within the party and in the Eastern Province. Many in the
Eastern Province have told us that they believed Karuna's
role was to keep Pillaiyan in line and subservient to his
political masters in Colombo (ref D). After the November 14
assassination of his close advisor "Ragu," Pillaiyan all but
openly accused Karuna of ordering the hit (ref D). Human
rights groups in the East have told us that they believe
Karuna's cadres, working in coordination with government
security forces, are responsible for the majority of
disappearances, extra-judicial killings and incidents of
torture that have occurred in the province since the defeat
of the LTTE.
4. (C) COMMENT: The test NOW for President Rajapaksa will
be whether he can use Minister Karuna's membership within the
SLFP to achieve progress on child soldiers, the disarmament
of paramilitaries and an improved human rights record that
will bring tangible benefits to the local population of the
East.
BLAKE