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