Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 75

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000539 SENSITIVE SIPDIS 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 ECON SUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 75 REF: A) Colombo 535 B) Colombo 533 C) Colombo 529 D) Colombo 522 E) Colombo 519 F) Colombo 514 G) Colombo 507 H) Colombo 501 I) Colombo 492 J) Colombo 484 K) Colombo 477 and previous ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Sri Lankan Military has announced that the war with the LTTE is over. Numerous sources reported that LTTE leader Prabhakaran was dead, but there had been no official announcement as 1630 local. There were reports that LTTE leaders Pullidevan and Nadesan wanted to surrendered; they were later reported dead, but there is as yet no official confirmation. The President will make a speech at Parliament the morning of May 19 to announce the final capture of all land once held by the LTTE. The Government and humanitarian organizations are struggling to respond to the needs of between 60,000 to 80,000 civilians who fled the conflict zone since Friday, May 15, and are still in the process of arriving at the camps. Shelter, water, basic health care, and sanitation are the most urgent needs among the now 280,000 civilians in overcrowded camps. In meetings with the Foreign Minister and with the Minister of Human Rights and Disaster Management, the Ambassador urged GSL to seize the opportunity of this military victory to start a new era of reconciliation with ethnic Tamils, through proper treatment and care of IDPs, providing a realistic and inclusive political solution to the Tamils and by improving Sri Lanka's record on human rights. Ambassador urged Samarasinghe to follow up on the status and well-being of four doctors and the Additional Government who had remained inside the conflict zone to treat wounded civilians and coordinate aid shipments. The UN Undersecretary General Ban Ki Moon will travel to Sri Lanka on May ¶22. END SUMMARY. END OF CONFLICT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Government has cornered the last remaining LTTE cadres into an area reportedly 400 meters by 600 meters. An Army contact reported on the morning of May 18 that bands of LTTE cadres were engaged in running battles with the Army inside the conflict zone. The estimated 300 LTTE cadres were moving in a generally northward direction three groups of about 100 each, likely attempting to fight their way out of the conflict zone and into the jungles. RAJAPAKSA TO DECLARE VICTORY OVER LTTE -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The President declared May 18 henceforth a national holiday, commemorating the end of the conflict. The President will declare victory in an address Parliament on May 19 at 0930. The diplomatic corps has been invited; DCM will attend as Ambassador will be in the Maldives. SEARCH FOR PRABHAKARAN -------------- ¶4. (SBU) At 1145 on May 18, an Embassy contact reported the military believed it had recovered the body of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, but that the Government was trying to positively COLOMBO 00000539 002 OF 004 identify the corpse before making any public claims. This contact said the face was badly burned, and they were attempting DNA identification. On the afternoon of May 18, AFP reported that a "senior Defense official" confirmed Prabhakaran was shot dead while trying to flee government troops. AFP reported Prabhakaran was in a small convoy of a van and ambulance along with a few aides which tried to drive out of the battle zone, but was attacked and killed. ¶5. (SBU) On May 18, the Air Force said that this morning the GSL identified the bodies of LTTE political wing head Nadesanand Prabhakaran's son Charles Anthony. The Air Frce stated that UAV coverage indicated no civilins remain in the NFZ. AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SAMRASINGHE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Ambassador met with Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe to discuss the current situation and steps forward. Ambassador asked Samarasinghe to work closely with the ICRC and UN SYG Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar to help ensure the large numbers of wounded in the NFZ receive immediate care. Close cooperation between the GSL, UN and ICRC will be critical in the days and months ahead. Ambassador requested that Samarasinghe specifically follow up on what happened to LTTE leaders Nadesan and Pulidevan, as they were reported to be trying to surrender, and were then reported dead. Ambassador also asked Samarasinghe to follow up on the status and well-being of four doctors and the Additional Government Agent who had remained inside the conflict zone to treat wounded civilians and coordinate aid shipments, and who had furnished information about civilian casualties to the UN and international media. (Note: per ref A, the medical officers and the Additional Government Agent were detained when they crossed over and were taken into the custody of government forces.) ¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador encouraged Samarasinghe to seize the opportunity provided by the LTTE's military defeat to turn a page on relations with ethnic Tamils. First they would need to present a viable and inclusive political reconciliation roadmap, with Tamil leaders acceptable to and representative of the Tamil electorate. Second, the government needed to ensure the care and treatment of the IDPs is consistent with international standards, allowing freedom of movement, full UN and ICRC access and rapid resettlement. Third, the government needed to make demonstrable progress on human rights issues such as extra-judicial killings, disappearances, and media freedom. AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH BOGOLLAGAMA -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador and DCM met with Foreign Minister Bogollagama and Foreign Secretary Kohona on May 18 to discuss the current situation, steps to be taken from here, and potential US involvement in that effort. FM Bogollagama asked whether, in light of the new situation on the ground, Sri Lanka had now demonstrated the capacity to handle the IDPs in a way sufficient to ensure U.S. COLOMBO 00000539 003 OF 004 support for the proposed IMF Stand-By Arrangement. Ambassador acknowledged that this was a point that deserved further discussion. ¶9. (SBU) Ambassador noted the reported attempt to surrender by LTTE leaders Nadesan and Pulidevan and later reports that they were killed, stating that GSL should expect questions about this from the press and the international community. Foreign Secretary Kohona replied that Nadesan and Pulidevan had made the request through foreign contacts but then never took any physical action to surrender. ¶10. (SBU) The Ambassador stressed the importance of facilitating a visit to the NFZ by UN Secretary General's Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar with the ICRC, in particular to ensure that any remaining wounded civilians receive medical treatment, but also to show to the international community that Sri Lanka as nothing to hide. Ambassador stated that three areas of action were key to the GSL preventing a re-emergence of the LTTE. First was proper and transparent treatment of IDPs. Second was a realistic and inclusive plan by the GSL to include ethnic Tamils in the political process, with Tamil leaders who had the support of the Tamil electorate. Third was an improvement in Sri Lanka's human rights record with respect to extra-judicial killings and disappearances, as well as media freedom. UNSYG CHIEF OF STAFF VISIT -------------- ¶11. (SBU) In a meeting the morning of May 18 with Co-Chair Ambassadors, Vijay Nambiar, Chief of Staff to the UN Secretary General, reported that the Secretary General plans to arrive in Colombo the night of May 22 and remain in Sri Lanka through May 23, and indicated that the GSL had agreed to those dates. Turning to his own visit, Nambiar said the GSL had agreed to allow him to visit the safe zone May 18 or 19, but the logistics were still being worked out. Nambiar noted that he hoped ICRC representatives would be permitted to join him. Nambiar acknowledged that given the very fluid situation in the safe zone, he was not certain that the GSL would ultimately provide him access. Ambassador undertook to push for this in his May 18 farewell calls on GSL officials. Nambiar reported that he expected to meet with President Rajapaksa May 18, but this had not been finalized. He said that in his meetings with the GSL he would urge the government to move forward with the political process and reconciliation and would strongly caution against an attitude of triumphalism following the defeat of the LTTE. He would also discuss the role of the UN in the handling and resettlement of IDPs, as well as a possible role for the UN in demining. UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne added that the UN may ask its Mine Action Service to come to Sri Lanka to conduct an assessment of demining requirements. Ambassador added that the U.S. will explore the possibility also providing support for an assessment, which Buhne said would be welcome. ¶12. (SBU) A UN contact said Nambiar was subsequently on May 18 shown live and file footage from Sri Lankan Air Force UAV surveillance of COLOMBO 00000539 004 OF 004 the conflict zone. Cloud cover prevented good visibility of some of the area. The military has claimed 63,000 civilians fled the conflict zone in the last three days. According to this contact, the UN does not think that LTTE claims on the night of May 17 that it still has 1,000 to 2,000 cadres are credible. This UN contact also thought LTTE claims of 25,000 civilians wounded or killed in the conflict zone were exaggerated. Based their May 10 shelter analysis and rough estimates of about 70,000-80,000 of people in the NFZ before the final assault, the number of unaccounted for people could be as high as 7,000-17,000, but there is no more precise information available. The UN will undertake more analysis over the next two days. The contact intends to go to the conflict zone on May 20 to conduct a security assessment. A second contact also doubted the LTTE claims of 25,000 civilian casualties in the last few days, but could not offer an alternative estimate. IDP CAMPS SURGE WITH NEW ARRIVALS; GOVERNMENT RESTRICTS ACCESS -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Between May 15 and 17, an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) crossed over from the conflict zone into Government-controlled territory. Of these, 34,000 have been processed through the Omanthai checkpoint while 13,000 are still being processed at Omanthai. Estimates of people still en route vary widely up to 30,000. On May 16, the Competent Authority prohibited relief organization vehicles from entering Manik Farms camp site in Vavuniya District unless GSL military staff accompany relief personnel into the camp site. According to the Government, there were reports of attempts to smuggle IDPs out of the camps in ambulances and other vehicles. The Government may also fear the smuggling of weapons and a possible attack in the camp site. The Government has instructed humanitarian organizations to leave their vehicles outside the camp site. BLAKE