Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 58

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000454

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 58

REF: A) Colombo 448 B) Colombo 435 C) Colombo 432 D) Colombo
425 E) Colombo 418 F) Colombo 414 G) Colombo 413 H) Colombo 412
I) Colombo 411 J) Colombo 402 K) Colombo 401 L) Colombo 400 and
previous


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Sri Lankan military continued operations in
the NFZ area on April 22. The northern half of the NFZ was
reportedly under control of the military, and heavy shelling in the
upper portion of the southern half of the NFZ was reported early in
the morning of April 22. Sources inside the NFZ reported
significant civilian casualties, with virtually no operating medical
facilities or supplies. The ICRC ferry Green Ocean left port the
morning of April 22, planning to land at Vellamullivaykkal, toward
the southern end of the NFZ this same afternoon to evacuate wounded
civilians. Ambassador called the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister to
urge a halt to military operations to allow time for a UN diplomatic
option as agreed during the Nambiar visit. The Minister responded
that since 92,000 have escaped the safe zone since early April 20,
the GSL would wait 48 hours to assess the need for a UN diplomatic
effort. The UN estimates that as many as 100,000 civilians remain
in the safe zone. The FM requested US assistance in providing
semi-permanent shelter for the new evacuees. There were reports of
about a dozen clashes between small groups of LTTE fighters and SLA
troops in the areas surrounding Vavuniya in the past week, but the
military has not confirmed these. End summary.

TWO SENIOR LTTE FIGURES REPORTEDLY CAPTURED
--------------


2. (SBU) The Ministry of Defense website stated that two senior LTTE
figures were captured April 22 as they tried to flee the NFZ in the
company of civilians. Daya Master, the LTTE media coordinator,
along with a top interpreter named George, who worked for senior
rebels, reportedly gave themselves up as the military forces took
Puthumathalan.

MILITARY CONTROLS NORTHERN PART OF NFZ
--------------


3. (SBU) Reports from the military stated that SLG troops have now
captured the northern part of the NFZ and were continuing actions
against LTTE in the south. This military contact said 77,793
civilians have reached government controlled areas since early April
20, with 150,232 overall since January. 238 ill and injured
civilians were transported by the SL Air Force to Anuradhapura
Hospital, and 20,000 dry rations and 6,000 food packets were air
lifted to the region. Another government source later in the
morning of April 22 said 81,420 civilians had crossed over to
government controlled areas in the last 72 hours.

AMBASSADOR CALLS FOREIGN MINISTER
--------------


4. (SBU) Ambassador spoke with Foreign Minister Bogollagama on April
22 to register USG concern about ongoing military action in the safe
zone. Ambassador welcomed the fact that 75,000 civilians had been
able to escape the safe zone. Bogollagama said he had just come
from a meeting with the Defense Secretary who reported the number
was up 92,000. Ambassador expressed U.S. regret that despite the

GSL's assurances to UNSYG Chief of Staff Nambiar late last week that
Sri Lanka would give the UN a diplomatic opportunity to persuade the
LTTE to release all civilians, the Sri Lankan military decided to
pursue a military solution. As a result, many hundreds of civilians
had died in just the last three days. Some reports suggested that
as many as 1,000 had been killed and 2,500 wounded. Ambassador
added that the embassy continued to receive disturbing reports of
heavy weapons use by both sides in the safe zone.


5. (SBU) Bogollagama expressed doubt on the higher level of
casualties and questioned how we knew that all were civilians. He
noted that "George," LTTE leader Prabakharan's personal translator,
had been among those who had left the safe zone. The government
looked forward to getting his assessment regarding the number of
civilians left in the zone. Ambassador passed on UN estimates that
100,000 or more remained in the zone and again urged that the
government cease hostilities and allow a UN diplomatic option. The
Foreign Minister said events had overtaken the Nambiar visit and
that civilians were still coming out in large numbers from the safe
zone. Therefore, the government would assess in 48 hours whether
there was scope for a diplomatic option.


6. (SBU) Ambassador urged the government to allow UN and ICRC access
to all sites where the IDPs are being registered and sheltered to
ensure maximum transparency. The Minister responded that the UN and
ICRC would be allowed access to Omanthai where the registration is
taking place. Ambassador noted that ICRC and UN should be allowed
access from the moment the civilians cross the lagoon near the safe
zone and are first disarmed and fed by the military adjacent to the
safe zone. The Minister insisted that once the IDPs are checked for
arms, they are bused straight to Omanthai. He added that
independent media such as Al-Jazeera were being allowed access to
Pulmoddai (where IDPs evacuated by sea by the ICRC are taken). The
Minister then took the opportunity to ask the USG to provide
semi-permanent shelter for the tens of thousands of civilians who
have crossed over. The Ambassador responded that the US already is
the largest food donor for the IDPs and that we would be pleased to
consider shelter and other requests from the UN which is
coordinating donor responses. He noted that USAID Director Cohn and
UN Resident Representative Buhne were in Vavuniya on April 22 to
make assessments of shelter and other needs.

SHELLING RESUMES IN NFZ
--------------


7. (SBU) A source with contacts inside the NFZ reported shelling
resumed at about 2 AM the morning of April 22. This same source
reported many civilian casualties, but that it was impossible to get
an accurate count because of heavy firing. The civilians were all
pinned down and victims could not be brought to the makeshift field
hospitals. The source estimated around 25,000 civilians were still
left in Valayanmadam, inside the NFZ, and 150,000 total remaining
civilians in the NFZ. The civilians would like to escape toward the
government controlled areas, but could not due to intense firing and
heavy shelling. Additionally, he informed us that the source Post
spoke with directly on April 21 was injured to an unknown degree
when a shell struck the church in the center of Valayanmadam.


8. (SBU) Reports from a doctor inside the NFZ the morning of April

22 told of deteriorating conditions for civilians there. This
source said all medical points were now displaced to the southern
part of the NFZ, mainly in Valayanmadam and Vellamullivaykal, but
this doctor and his staff were confined to the bunkers and unable to
treat injured patients. The doctor saw 600 or more seriously
wounded in his location on April 21, with over 100 of them dying
after admission. He stated at this point many wounded were not
coming to the medical points as they understood there was almost no
treatment available. He reported "cluster munitions," likely air
bursts, hit the medical facility on April 21, killing Dr.
Sivamanoharan, a mental health doctor. Artillery hit a research
compound on morning of April 22, injuring some of the Catholic
priests.


9. (SBU) The same doctor reported that much of the civilian
population fled to the south of the NFZ when the current military
operation began, and that this southern sector had not yet come
under intense attack. He said the LTTE was asking civilians to move
south, but would not confirm if LTTE was using force to compel them.
There was continuous heavy weapons fire in the civilian areas in
and surrounding his current location in Valayanmadam. Because of
conditions, he was not able to confirm exact numbers of civilians
remaining in the NFZ, or of civilian casualties, but he thought
1,000 to 1,500 killed and 2000 injured was conservative. He
believed up to 200,000 remained inside the NFZ. He expressed the
need for immediate delivery of a food shipment and evacuation of
critical medical patients.

MEDICAL EVACUATION FERRY DEPARTS
--------------


10. (SBU) The ICRC ferry Green Ocean set sail the morning of April
22 for the NFZ, to evacuate patients at a new landing point at
Vellamullivakkal. If this sea operation goes forward without
problems, the WFP ship will set sail, possibly leaving port the
morning of April 23. The WFP ship has 1,030 MTs of dry food rations
and about 30 MTs of complementary food provided by the NGO ZOA.

NUMBERS OF CIVILIANS REMAINING IN NFZ
--------------


11. (SBU) There were still widely differing opinions on the number
of civilians remaining inside the NFZ. In an interview the evening
of April 21, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne
told IRIN that the UN's calculations and reports from government
officials still in the area suggested that there remained at least
some tens of thousands, and perhaps as many as 100,000 or more
civilians left in the NFZ.

SHELTERING NEW EVACUEES
--------------


12. (SBU) A separate source reported that by the end of April 21,
about 100,000 individuals had crossed from the NFZ into government
controlled areas since early on April 20. 60,000 of these were
already with the SLA and 40,000 were waiting to be processed.
Preliminary GSL plans were to house new arrivals from NFZ in UNHCR
tents in Zone 2 of Manik Farm. Normal capacity for these tents
would be 5 persons, but up to twice that could be placed in them,

giving capacity for 100,000.

SCATTERED CLASHES OUTSIDE MAIN CONFLICT
--------------


13. (SBU) Several contacts have reported armed clashes in the
Vavuniya District between GSL forces and small groups of LTTE
fighters who have infiltrated into the area. Since April 15 there
have been 11 armed clashes in a radius of 6 to 15 km outside of
Vavuniya itself. The GSL has not released any information about
these incidents.

BLAKE