Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 49

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000411

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SCA (BOUCHER),SCA/INS AND PRM
STATE ALSO PASS USAID
AID/W FOR ANE/SCA, DCHA/FFP (DWORKEN, KSHEIN)
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA (MORRISP, ACONVERY, RTHAYER, RKERR)
ATHENS FOR PCARTER
BANGKOK FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA (WBERGER)
KATHMANDU FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA AND POL (SBERRY)
GENEVA FOR RMA (NKYLOH, NHILGERT, MPITOTTI)
USUN NEW YORK FOR ECOSOC (D MERCADO)
SECDEF FOR OSD - POLICY
PACOM ALSO FOR J-5

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF MOPS PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC CE
SUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 49

Ref: A) Colombo 402 B) Colombo 401 C) Colombo 400 D) Colombo 396
E) Colombo 393 F) Colombo 384 G) Colombo 374 H) Colombo 368 I)
Colombo 361 J) Colombo 360 K) Colombo 357


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador intervened with Army Commander Fonseka
to urge an end to heavy shelling of the GSL-designated safe zone on
April 8. The Red Cross reported a disappointing result of ICRC
President Kellenberger's visit to Sri Lanka, including the denial of
access to IDP screening points and official indications that the GSL
could try to restrict the role of the Red Cross after military
hostilities end. Another Sri Lankan employee of the Red Cross was
killed in the safe zone. Norwegian sources report that the LTTE may
have lost up to a third of its remaining experienced cadres in
recent fighting, but cast doubt on the reported injuries to LTTE
political head Nadesan. UN Special Rapporteur John Holmes published
an Op-Ed piece in the UK Guardian in which he estimated the number
of civilians still in the safe zone at 150-000 - 190,000, and
reiterated his appeal to the LTTE to allow them to leave, to the
government to stop shelling them, and to the international community
to act before it is too late. End Summary.

Heavy Shelling Reported in Safe Zone
Ambassador Calls Army Commander
--------------


2. (SBU) The Bishop of Mannar called Ambassador to report heavy
shelling in the GSL-declared "safe zone." He could not cite precise
figures, but noted that one shell had exploded in the immediate
vicinity of a health center where women and children were waiting to
receive vaccinations. The Bishop requested an urgent intervention to
get the shelling to stop. (A reliable NGO source independently told
us it had been a "bad day in the safe zone, with 283 injured and
scores more likely to be dead.") Ambassador immediately called Army
Commander Fonseka to urge restraint. Ambassador noted that the
current fighting is close to the heaviest concentrations of
civilians. He asked Fonseka to make sure the GSL kept its promise
not to fire at or near the safe zone, and not to use heavy weapons.
Fonseka said that the Army was still two kilometers away from the
boundary of the safe zone, so he did not think his troops were
responsible for the shelling. Ambassador suggested that Fonseka
call area commanders and tell them not to use heavy weapons, as per
the GSL commitment.

ICRC President Reports Meager Results of Visit
-------------- -


3. (SBU) Ambassador attended a meeting for heads of mission in which
Jacques De Maio, head of ICRC operations for South Asia, briefed on
the April 7 visit of President of the International committee of
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger. Remarking that this was the
first visit by an ICRC president to the country in more than ten
years, DeMaio made it clear the ICRC was disappointed at the meager
result. He noted the lack of any public communication about the
visit by the government. He said Kellenberger came with the
understanding he'd see President Rajapaksa, only to find his hosts
apologizing because the President was leaving shortly for Libya.


4. (SBU) The main substantive meeting was with Foreign Minister
Bogollagama, flanked by a number of officials at the Secretary and
Additional Secretary level from eleven ministries the ICRC works
with in Sri Lanka. Bogollagama expressed appreciation for all the
work ICRC is doing in the "safe zone" - delivering food and medicine
and evacuating wounded. However, the officials present made it
clear that they saw the rest of the ICRC's mandate, including
protection work in IDP camps and at registration points, plus its
wider mission of protecting human rights of IDPs and detainees in
the country as a whole, as subject to further review. For example,
Kellenberger was told that there is no need for ICRC at the Omanthai
checkpoint, since UNHCR can perform that function. Further, ICRC
would not gain access to places in the northern Vanni where those
who had escaped LTTE-controlled territory were held pending
availability of room in IDP camps. They suggested Sri Lanka would
likely review and recalibrate its relationship with the ICRC after
the end of military hostilities around the safe zone.


5. (SBU) Ambassador noted that this would mark a major change in
the terms of operation of the ICRC in Sri Lanka, and, since the
ICRC's general protection work was important, represented a
significant blow to transparency in the country. Further,
Ambassador said that the news contradicted the message from the
Kaelin visit, during which the GSL had undertaken to establish
benchmarks and timetables to build confidence with donors, the IDPs,
and the wider Tamil community. Septel will report in more detail.

Another ICRC Worker Killed
--------------


6. (SBU) The ICRC reported that another of its local workers in the
safe zone had been killed by a shell fragment while going to collect
water. The deceased worker is survived by three young children.

Reports: Tigers Suffer Strategic Setbacks
--------------


7. (SBU) Norwegian embassy contacts told us that some of their
sources reported that the LTTE had suffered significant reverses in
Anandapuram on April 4 and 5, with perhaps as many as a third of
its battle-hardened cadres killed or out of action. Our
interlocutors doubted Sri Lankan media reports that LTTE political
wing chief Nadesan had been injured.

Holmes Op-ed
--------------


8. (U) U/SYG Holmes published an op-ed in the Guardian (UK) on April
8, calling for "decisive action by the government, the LTTE and the
international community now, before it is too late." Noting that "a
bloodbath on the beaches of northern Sri Lanka seems an increasingly
real possibility," he urged both the LTTE and GSL to agree to a
"temporary humanitarian lull" to allow aid workers and relief
supplies to reach 150,000 - 190,000 civilians trapped in the
conflict zone. Holmes urged the LTTE to allow civilians to depart
the zone. He called on the GSL to keep its commitment not to use
heavy weapons, to adhere to international standards in its treatment
of IDPs, and to show flexibility by recognizing that many of the
civilians in the conflict zone have genuine fears about possible
mistreatment in the hands of the GSL.

Civilian Casualties and IDP Outflow
--------------


9. (SBU) Tamil sources from within the LTTE-controlled area
reported 24 killed (including 11 children and 3 infants) and 120
injured on April 7. The Defense Ministry reported that "Sri Lanka
Army 58 Division soldiers rescued 42 civilians from the clutches of
LTTE terrorists in the No Fire Zone" on April 7, including 11
children, 12 women and 18 men.

BLAKE