Letter to Secretary Clinton from Member of Parliament R.

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000098 STATE FOR S/ES-CR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PREL PGOV CE SUBJECT: Letter to Secretary Clinton from Member of Parliament R. SAMPANTHAN concerning the Tamil National question in Sri Lanka. REF: COLOMBO 97 Summary ¶1. Embassy Colombo received the following letter from Member of Parliament R. SAMPANTHAN concerning the Tamil National question in Sri Lanka. ¶2. BEGIN TEXT: 21 January 2009 Ms. Hilary Clinton Secretary of State The Department of State Washington DC USA Dear Secretary of State, THE TAMIL NATIONAL QUESTION IN SRI LANKA We write to you as the representatives in the Parliament of Sri Lanka of the Tamil people of the Northeast region comprising the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka - the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people. Of the 23 Tamil representatives elected to Parliament from the Northeast, 22 belong to our Party. May we extend to you our warmest congratulations and very best wishes on your assumption of office as Secretary of State of the United States of America. We annex herewith a copy of the letter we have addressed to President Barack Obama. We would earnestly urge you to use your good offices to address the issues that we have raised in the said letter. We are confident that during your term as Secretary of State there can be a turnaround in the situation in Sri Lanka. Thanking you and with our warm regards. Yours sincerely, //s// ¶R. SAMPANTHAN M.P. Parliamentary Group Leader Tamil National Alliance END TEXT. BLAKE