Home
Cables mirror and Afghan War Diary
Privacy
| Identifier | Subject | Date | Office | Classification | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06COLOMBO57 |
REINVIGORATING PUBLIC DIPLOMACY CULTURAL AND SPORTS [...] (U) Post welcomes renewed attention by ECA to cultural and sports diplomacy as important tools to support mission objectives(reftel). Following responses are keyed to reftel paragraph four. --------------------------------------------- -------------- A: Which of your mission objectives bene [...] |
2006-01-09 12:47:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | KPAO OIIP OEXC OPRC PREL SCUL CE |
| 06COLOMBO581 |
SRI LANKA: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL ENZI [...] (SBU) Senator Enzi, your delegation's April 14 visit to Sri Lanka offers a valuable opportunity to highlight our warm bilateral ties, re-emphasize our commitment to support the peace process and review progress on key elements of our humanitarian assistance program. Bilateral relations with [...] |
2006-04-10 12:27:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | OREP PREL PGOV PTER EAID ECON CE |
| 06COLOMBO584 |
CIVIL AIR IN SRI LANKA 3 NEW CARRIERS [...] Summary: The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is taking some steps to liberalize civil aviation. The GSL has issued provisional licenses to three new airlines registered in Sri Lanka to operate international air services, although initially they will be restricted to Sri Lanka-India routes. U [...] |
2006-04-12 04:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON EAIR CE |
| 06COLOMBO585 |
SRI LANKA CIVIL AIR INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT [...] (U) Summary: Sri Lankas civil aviation industry is undergoing important changes. In order to continue development of its tourism industry and meet International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards within the country, the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) wants to build a second runway [...] |
2006-04-12 04:19:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EAIR CE |
| 06COLOMBO591 |
NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT LETTER TO SRI LANKA AND LTTE [...] (C) After Co-Chairs meeting April 12 (septel), Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar grabbed Ambassador privately to pass copy of letter which Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim was sending to Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa. Brattskar said very similar letter would be sent to L [...] |
2006-04-12 09:47:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO592 |
SRI LANKA: VIOLENCE, VERBIAGE THREATEN GENEVA TALKS [...] (U) Summary: After a brief moratorium on violence following the late January announcement of the first round of Geneva talks (Ref A), the all-too-regrettable pattern of tit-for-tat bloodshed between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its armed rivals has resumed with a vengeance. [...] |
2006-04-12 09:57:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER CE |
| 06COLOMBO600 |
GOVERNMENT ASKS CO-CHAIRS FOR STRONG RESPONSE AS [...] (C) SUMMARY: Co-Chair ambassadors, minus the U.S., pushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) hard in an August 10 meeting to make clear its commitment to "Geneva II" but the Tigers are focused on the "transportation issue" in which the GSL has refused to chopper Eastern Tigers to the [...] |
2006-04-12 11:55:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO601 |
SRI LANKA: MORE BOMB BLASTS AND BLOODSHED IN [...] (SBU) A recent upsurge in violence that has seen 30 people killed in the north and east in just five days continued April 12 when a series of bomb blasts shook Trincomalee town in the late afternoon. Although details remain sketchy, information culled from police, journalists, local resident [...] |
2006-04-12 13:39:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PTER CE |
| 06COLOMBO612 |
CO-CHAIRS DISCUSSION: STILL SLIM CHANCE FOR GENEVA [...] (C) SUMMARY: Co-Chair reps met in Colombo April 17. Problems on both sides led to failure of transport of Tiger leaders on Aug 15, but Tigers bear most blame. There is one last chance to arrange transportation by civilian helicopter, which could allow Geneva to take place April 24-25 as plann [...] |
2006-04-17 09:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO613 |
CO-CHAIRS DISCUSSION: STILL SLIM CHANCE FOR GENEVA [...] (C) SUMMARY: Co-Chair reps met in Colombo April 17. Problems on both sides led to failure of transport of Tiger leaders on April 15, but Tigers bear most blame. There is one last chance to arrange transportation by civilian helicopter, which could allow Geneva to take place April 24-25 as pla [...] |
2006-04-17 09:28:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO62 |
MALDIVES: ELEMENTS OF GOVERNMENT AT ODDS OVER [...] (C) Summary. On December 28, Sri Lankan police, apparently acting on a request from Maldivian authorities via Interpol, searched the Colombo office of the pro-opposition Minivan News for evidence that Minivan staff were engaged in seditious activities and/or gun-running. Although the search y [...] |
2006-01-10 10:44:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PINR MV CE |
| 06COLOMBO620 |
SRI LANKA: CLAYMORE MINES AND MOB VIOLENCE AS LTTE [...] (C) Summary. Violence and communal strife in the north and east continued over the long New Year holiday, killing at least another 40 people April 13-17 in Trincomalee, Jaffna and Vavuniya. An April 12 bomb blast in Trincomalee that appeared to target civilians--the first such incident since [...] |
2006-04-17 13:34:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO630 |
SRI LANKA: DEATH OF CHILD SOLDIER IN LTTE ATTACK [...] (U) Summary. The death of an underage Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre in a claymore mine explosion in North Vavuniya on April 13 has prompted an outcry from the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), which has repeatedly asked the LTTE to free all child soldiers. [...] |
2006-04-19 09:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO634 |
SRI LANKA: NORWEGIAN FACILITATORS SEE SLIGHT HOPE [...] (C) In an April 19 meeting with the Ambassador, Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer and Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar said they still held out some hope that talks in Geneva between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) might take place A [...] |
2006-04-19 11:47:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PREL PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO635 |
PROPOSED ANTI-CONVERSION LEGISLATION UNLIKELY TO [...] (U) After more than eighteen months in legislative limbo, the Buddhist monk-based Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) anti-conversion bill showed faint signs of life when the Speaker of Parliament appointed Wijedasa Rajapakse, the Minister of State for Banks, to head the parliamentary select committee [...] |
2006-04-19 12:01:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO639 |
SRI LANKA: CODEL ENZI CALLS ON PRESIDENT [...] (SBU) Summary: In an April 14 visit to Sri Lanka, Senators Michael Enzi, Lamar Alexander and Johnny Isakson, their spouses, staff and Terrell Halaska, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs, Department of Education, observed US-funded humanitarian demining [...] |
2006-04-20 09:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PGOV EAID OREP CE |
| 06COLOMBO646 |
SRI LANKA: FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS "NEGATIVE [...] (C) Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera met with the Ambassador on April 20 to discuss latest developments on the peace process. Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara and GSL Peace Secretariat head Palitha Kohona also participated in the meeting. The Foreign Minister said that he had "he [...] |
2006-04-20 12:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV PREL PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO650 |
NORWEGIANS STILL TRYING TO BROKER DEAL AS APRIL 24 [...] (C) SUMMARY: LTTE told the Norwegians they cannot attend ceasefire talks in Geneva until transport is arranged for their leaders to attend a Central Committee meeting. Contrary to what the Tigers told the press, the Tigers did not insist on other conditions for talks. Norwegians are still try [...] |
2006-04-21 06:19:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO654 |
SRI LANKAN PEACE PROCESS: WHAT CAN WE AND OTHERS [...] (C) Escalating violence by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against both civilian and military targets, along with the Tigers' refusal to attend the second round of talks in Geneva, suggest that the LTTE may have decided that continuing the peace process, at least for now, does not [...] |
2006-04-21 14:20:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO656 |
LOCAL G8 COUNTER-TERRORISM ACTION GROUP ON [...] No summary [...] |
2006-04-24 10:07:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER CE |
| 06COLOMBO661 |
SRI LANKA: CLAYMORES, CYANIDE, AND CIVILIANS: [...] (C) The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continued small-scale attacks against military and civilian targets in the north and east April 21-23, killing eleven members of the security forces and six Sinhalese villagers in separate incidents. For the second time in as many weeks, a Sinhal [...] |
2006-04-24 12:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO662 |
MALDIVES: DESPITE REFORM ROADMAP, QUESTIONS ON [...] (U) Summary: On March 27 the Government of the Republic of Maldives (GORM) unveiled its much-hyped "Reform Roadmap" which calls for increased press freedom, a new constitution by June 2007, and a multi-party election in October 2008. Since then, however, little progress has been made and const [...] |
2006-04-24 13:01:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM MV |
| 06COLOMBO668 |
SRI LANKA: DEMARCHE ON ASIAN CANDIDATES TO UN [...] (SBU) Ambassador delivered reftel demarche to Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara on April 20. The Ambassador stressed the US commitment to ensuring the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council and the need for the Asia group to support candidates [...] |
2006-04-25 07:06:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PREL KUNR UNHRC UN CE |
| 06COLOMBO672 |
SRI LANKA: SUSPECTED LTTE SUICIDE BOMBER ATTEMPTS [...] (SBU) Summary: Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka was injured April 25 in an assassination attempt by a suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber at Army Headquarters in Colombo. As many as eight people, many of them members of Fonseka's security detail, may h [...] |
2006-04-25 11:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV ASEC CE |
| 06COLOMBO675 |
SRI LANKA: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON ADOPTION OF ICRC [...] No summary [...] |
2006-04-26 06:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | AORC PHUM PREL ICRC SZ CE |
| 06COLOMBO676 |
SRI LANKA: DEMARCHE ON U.S. REQUEST TO EXTEND 100 [...] No summary [...] |
2006-04-26 06:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PARM PREL CWC CE |
| 06COLOMBO683 |
Jaffna University Students Also Suffering From [...] (SBU) Summary. More than most university students in Sri Lanka, the approximately 5,000 students currently studying at Jaffna University have felt the impact of the ongoing political tensions in missed classes, low funding, and deteriorating academic standards. This formerly prestigious uni [...] |
2006-04-26 10:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV SCUL SOCI KPAO CE |
| 06COLOMBO686 |
SRI LANKAN MILITARY LAUNCHES "LIMITED" RETALIATORY [...] (C) Following the attempted assassination of Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka in Colombo on April 25, Government security forces launched aerial and artillery strikes on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory in the eastern district of Trincomalee late April 25 and the mor [...] |
2006-04-26 13:06:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV PHUM MOPS CE |
| 06COLOMBO696 |
SRI LANKA: INITIAL REPORTS OF IDP OUTFLOWS [...] (SBU) Summary. April 27 reports by the pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) website TamilNet alleging that as many as 40,000 civilians have fled the Trincomalee District since the Sri Lanka Military carried out aerial bombing raids cannot be confirmed. Trincomalee's Government Agent e [...] |
2006-04-27 12:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO697 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT CONFIRMS MILITARY OPERATIONS [...] (C) In an April 27 meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Charge' condemned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) April 25 attempt on the life of the Army Commander and underscored strong US support for Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the confli [...] |
2006-04-27 12:32:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO713 |
SRI LANKA: TIGER TRANSPORT STILL ON TABLE AS [...] (C) Low-intensity conflict between Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continued April 29-May 2, including an April 30 LTTE attack on camps run by the dissident Karuna faction on the Batticaloa-Polonnaruwa border. Despite the violenc [...] |
2006-05-02 13:40:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER MOPS PGOV PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO72 |
Special Media Reaction: Ambassador's January 10 [...] (U) Summary: English and Sinhala media January 11 ran bold front-page headlines and lead stories highlighting Ambassador's January 10 speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in which he noted that peace should be the nation's highest priority, criticized recent LTTE violence and lauded the [...] |
2006-01-11 09:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PHUM KPAO PTER EAID OIIP PREL CE LTTE |
| 06COLOMBO721 |
INDIANS STILL HOPING GENEVA TALKS CAN RESUME UNDER [...] (C) According to a local Indian diplomat, his government remains hopeful, despite the April 25 assassination attempt on Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) can engage the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a second round of talks. To get the talks back [...] |
2006-05-03 12:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV IN CE |
| 06COLOMBO723 |
GUNMEN ATTACK TAMIL NEWSPAPER ON EVE OF WORLD PRESS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: On the evening of May 2 unidentified gunmen entered the offices of the Tamil language newspaper Uthayan in the northern district of Jaffna and opened fire on the employees, killing two and wounding at least three. The Minister of Mass Media and Information condemned the attack [...] |
2006-05-03 12:46:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PHUM KPAO PGOV PTER CE |
| 06COLOMBO731 |
SRI LANKA: AMBASSADOR STRESSES NEED TO DEVELOP [...] (C) In separate May 4 meetings with Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara and opposition United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya, the Ambassador emphasized U.S. support for the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the need for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to giv [...] |
2006-05-04 11:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO737 |
SRI LANKA HOPING FOR "POSITIVE RESPONSE" ON PSI [...] (C) The Ambassador presented reftel demarche to Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on April 4 and raised it in a subsequent meeting with Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara one day later. Palihakkara indicated that his Government was interested and said he hoped to have "a positive res [...] |
2006-05-04 11:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | MNUC PARM KNNP PGOV PREL PHSA CE |
| 06COLOMBO74 |
FOREIGN GOVERNMENT TENDER FOR THE LEASE AND [...] No summary [...] |
2006-01-11 11:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | BTIO CE MV ECONOMICS |
| 06COLOMBO757 |
AKASHI GETS HARD LINE FROM TIGERS [...] (C) SUMMARY: Tigers implied to Akashi they will not go to Geneva until Government stops all violence against Tamils. They insisted President Rajapaksa has the power to do so, but Akashi told us that the President has admitted some doubts about his control. END SUMMARY 2. (C) Japanese S [...] |
2006-05-10 10:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO759 |
SRI LANKA: ICRC NOTES DISTURBING TRENDS SINCE [...] (C) In a May 9 meeting with poloff, ICRC Deputy Head of Mission Peter Krakolinig and Protection Coordinator Christoph Sutter said that they believed that their access to Government-held detainees is very good. Sutter estimated the number of detainees held under Emergency Regulations to whom [...] |
2006-05-10 12:39:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO763 |
Your Efforts to Rationalize Foreign Assistance [...] (SBU) I have read with interest the information we have received regarding your efforts to revamp US foreign assistance processes. In that vein, I believe Sri Lanka deserves a closer look and poses interesting questions for the foreign aid planning community to consider as it moves forward wi [...] |
2006-05-11 06:45:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID ECON CE |
| 06COLOMBO771 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT, HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS [...] (C) Since the April 7 assassination of a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP-nominee in Trincomalee--and in tandem with stepped-up violence against Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) military targets--the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is increasingly attempting to depict GSL security forces [...] |
2006-05-11 12:46:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO776 |
HIV/AIDS IN MALDIVES -- LOW PREVALENCE BUT [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Despite a low reported prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Maldives, the lack of surveillance among high risk populations and risky behavior among Maldivian drug- using youth suggest underreporting and the potential for a serious, but silent, outbreak. Even though Government of Maldives ( [...] |
2006-05-15 03:41:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | TBIO KSTH ECON PREL SOCI WHO EAGR CASC MV |
| 06COLOMBO777 |
Sri Lankan Business Community's Post-Tsunami "Back [...] Summary: The "Back to Business" project of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) has helped restart a significant number of tsunami affected businesses and livelihoods. "Back to Business" was a comprehensive, private sector-led program. The Government of [...] |
2006-05-15 05:48:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON EFIN CE |
| 06COLOMBO790 |
SCA PDAS CAMP PRESSES GSL ON POLITICAL PROPOSALS [...] (C) In separate May 15 meetings with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) Peace Secretariat head Palitha Kohona, Principal Deputy Assistant SIPDIS Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp SIPDIS emphasized U.S. concern at the escalation [...] |
2006-05-16 07:09:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PREL PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO791 |
SRI LANKAN TRUCE MONITORS TELL SCA PDAS CAMP THEY [...] (C) In a May 15 meeting with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp and SIPDIS Charge', members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said that the Mission plans to resume naval monitoring as soon as possible. In SLMM's view, the May 11 Se [...] |
2006-05-16 07:57:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | MOPS PTER CE |
| 06COLOMBO792 |
SRI LANKA: SCA PDAS CAMP URGES DEFENSE SECRETARY [...] (C) In a May 15 meeting with Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp and Charge' underscored U.S. support for the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) but stressed the need for the Government to investigate thoroughl [...] |
2006-05-16 08:45:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PTER MOPS PREL PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO793 |
Central Bank reports 6% GDP Growth Sri Lanka in [...] (U) Summary: According to the Central Bank, Sri Lanka's economy grew by 6% in 2005 compared with 5.4% in 2004. Post- tsunami reconstruction, debt moratoria and foreign grants SIPDIS and loans helped mitigate the adverse effects of the December 2004 tsunami. Main contributors to growth wer [...] |
2006-05-16 09:36:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON CE |
| 06COLOMBO794 |
Sri Lanka Tax mess [...] (U) Summary: The cost of doing business in Sri Lanka is set to rise, due to increased taxation and tax complexity. International trade is also subject to high taxation in the form of increased non-tariff fees and surcharges. However, the impact of higher taxes is not equitable. For companies [...] |
2006-05-16 09:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN CE |
| 06COLOMBO803 |
TRANSITIONS AND CHALLENGES IN HIV/AIDS PREVENTION [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Though Sri Lanka is still considered a low prevalence country for HIV/AIDS, most local HIV/AIDS experts agree that interventions must shift from general awareness campaigns to behavior change approaches targeted at vulnerable and at-risk populations. Government bureaucracy, lack [...] |
2006-05-17 06:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | TBIO KSTH ECON PREL SOCI WHO EAGR CASC MV |
| 06COLOMBO805 |
DUTCH AMBASSADOR REGISTERS LOCAL EU CONCERN WITH [...] (C) Dutch Ambassador Reynout Van Dijk called on Charge' May 17 in his capacity as the representative of the EU Presidency to complain about SCA PDAS Donald Camp's May 16 statement during a television interview in Colombo that the U.S. encouraged the European Union to list the Liberation Tige [...] |
2006-05-17 10:07:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PREL CE EU |
| 06COLOMBO808 |
Special Media Reaction: PDAS Camp Visit to [...] (U) The Sri Lankan media splashed SCA PDAS Donald Camp's media interviews prominently on their front pages and as leads on the evening TV news programs. While government-run media highlighted Camp's denunciations of the LTTE, independent papers, in both Tamil and English, played up his comment [...] |
2006-05-17 11:58:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PHUM KPAO PTER EAID OIIP PREL CE |
| 06COLOMBO809 |
MAIN PARTIES TROT OUT THE OLD GUARD FOR COLOMBO [...] (SBU) Local government elections for the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and 21 other local government authorities will be held on May 20. Elections in these localities were postponed from March 30 because of assorted court challenges to electoral lists submitted by various parties (Reftel). [...] |
2006-05-17 12:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO814 |
POPULATION DISPLACEMENTS DUE TO RECENT [...] (SBU) OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR, WILLIAM BERGER TRAVELED TO SRI LANKA FROM MAY 4 THROUGH MAY 14TH TO ASSESS REPORTED POPULATION DISPLACEMENTS DUE TO RECENT INCREASE IN HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT FORCES AND THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM (LTTE). FINDINGS OF THE ASSESSMENT [...] |
2006-05-18 09:40:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID CE |
| 06COLOMBO819 |
Electricity strike could delay reforms [...] (U) Summary: Unions affiliated with the Marxist- Nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party have warned of a strike and country-wide blackout on May 23 in protest of government moves to present electricity reforms to Parliament, which they fear would lead to privatization of the state [...] |
2006-05-19 07:10:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ENRG CE |
| 06COLOMBO836 |
World Health Assembly: Smallpox Demarche [...] (SBU) Econoff and EconFSN met on May 19 with Dr. H.A.P. Kahandaliyanage, Director General of Health, Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, regarding reftel. Kahandaliyanage appeared to agree with various arguments for retaining the smallpox virus. He promised that he would discuss the issue wi [...] |
2006-05-22 08:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL AORC TBIO WHO CE |
| 06COLOMBO843 |
SRI LANKA: NGO OFFICES TARGETED, LTTE EASTERN [...] (C) The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) deputy eastern military commander was one of several fatalities as violence continued in the embattled north and east May 20-21. Unknown perpetrators threw grenades into the offices of three international NGOs in a government-controlled town in [...] |
2006-05-22 12:34:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV PHUM EAID CE |
| 06COLOMBO853 |
SCENESETTER FOR A/S BOUCHER VISIT TO TOKYO AND SRI [...] (C) Your visit to Tokyo and Sri Lanka comes during a tense period of increased violence and worrisome prospects for Sri Lanka's fragile ceasefire. Your visit gives us the opportunity to pursue two key goals - increased co-chair support to push the peace process forward, including seeking way [...] |
2006-05-24 06:37:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | EAID ECON MARR OVIP PGOV PREL CE |
| 06COLOMBO866 |
SRI LANKA: FROM INSIDE THE CONFLICT ZONE AND FROM [...] (C) In separate meetings on May 18 and May 23 a Tamil cleric from Jaffna and a Sinhalese Buddhist Cabinet Minister shared with poloff their assessments of the current situation and expectations for the future. Although their many differences in viewpoints, especially with respect to Governme [...] |
2006-05-24 13:08:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PHUM PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO87 |
SRI LANKA: SEVEN POLICE ARRESTED IN [...] (SBU) Summary. On December 29, the media reported six police officers were arrested for having links to a drug baron. A seventh officer was arrested on January 3. These arrests appear to be the beginning of a larger-scale effort to clean police corruption, which law enforcement contacts and [...] |
2006-01-12 10:58:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV SNAR KCRM CE |
| 06COLOMBO872 |
TOKYO CO-CHAIRS PRE-MEETINGS [...] (C) Summary: GSL representatives admit that at least some elements of armed forces may be cooperating with irregular armed groups. Government is trying to crack down on this, and is also trying to develop a proposal for a political settlement. EU will likely designate LTTE as terrorist group on May [...] |
2006-05-25 11:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM CE NO |
| 06COLOMBO88 |
SRI LANKA: SCENESETTER FOR THE JANUARY 23-25 [...] (C) Your visit to Sri Lanka comes as small-scale but recurrent aggression by the insurgent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is exerting increasing pressure on a still-new and relatively untested Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) executive. President Mahinda Rajapaksa appears to lack a coh [...] |
2006-01-12 11:20:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER CE |
| 06COLOMBO89 |
Special Media Reaction: Editorial Reaction to [...] (U) Summary: English and Sinhala editorialists January 12 praised Ambassador Lunstead's January 10 speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in which he noted that peace should be the nation's highest priority, criticized recent LTTE violence and lauded the GOSL's restrained response to LTTE [...] |
2006-01-12 11:36:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PHUM KPAO PTER EAID OIIP PREL CE LTTE |
| 06COLOMBO898 |
Sri Lanka Tourism Prospects [...] (U) Summary: Despite the deteriorating security situation, tourist arrivals in the first four months of 2006 have increased 25%, according to the Sri Lanka Tourist Board (STB). April arrivals were up 18%. Discussions with tourism sector reps, however, indicate that the Government of Sri La [...] |
2006-05-31 10:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON CE |
| 06COLOMBO906 |
SRI LANKA: ANTI-CONVERSION BILL MIRED IN [...] (SBU) Summary: The parliamentary select committee to discuss the Buddhist monk-based Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU)-sponsored bill proposing to outlaw "unethical conversions" began hearing testimony in May (Ref A). According to one member of parliament (MP) serving on the committee, the group i [...] |
2006-05-31 12:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM KIRF CE |
| 06COLOMBO91 |
BFIF FY06 PROPOSALS [...] US-MALDIVES FRIENDSHIP WEEK: (A) JUSTIFICATION: THE MALDIVES TRADE FAIR HAS SEEN CONSIDERABLE GROWTH OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS IN TERMS OF COMPANY PARTICIPATION, COVERAGE, AND SIGNIFICANCE IN THE MALDIVES COMMERCIAL CALENDAR (REF C). IT REMAINS THE PRIMARY MEANS THROUGH WHICH US COMPANIES CA [...] |
2006-01-13 06:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ECON EFIC ETRD CE MV |
| 06COLOMBO933 |
A/S BOUCHER TALKS TOUGH ON TIGERS BUT PRESSES FOR [...] (C) Summary: Following his participation in the May 30 meeting of the Sri Lankan Donor Co-Chairs (US, EU, Norway, and Japan) in Tokyo, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher underscored the messages from the Tokyo Co-Chairs statement during a May 31 trip to Co [...] |
2006-06-05 07:13:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO940 |
U.S. STATEMENT ON IRAN; DEMARCHE ON NAM STATEMENT [...] (C) Ambassador delivered demarche requested ref (A) to Foreign Secretary Palihakkara June 5. Palihakkara said that he had not read the NAM document, and presumed that as usual this "112-member monster" had produced a lowest common denominator document. Ambassador said that did not seem to be t [...] |
2006-06-05 11:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL AORC IAEA KNNP UNSC IR CE |
| 06COLOMBO941 |
SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGERS THREATEN WITHDRAWAL AFTER [...] (C) On June 1, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to go to Oslo for June 8-9 talks with a Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) delegation led by Peace Secretariat Secretary General Palitha Kohona to discuss the role of the Scandanavian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) despite e [...] |
2006-06-05 12:25:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO946 |
HCOC: SRI LANKA HAS "NOT HAD TIME" TO CONSIDER AS [...] (SBU) On April 25, poloff delivered Reftel demarche to Sumedha Ekanayake, Assistant Director of UN and Multi-lateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a June 6 phone conversation, Ekanayake explained that his government "had not had time" to consider the Hague Code Of Conduct (HC [...] |
2006-06-06 10:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | MTCRE PREL MNUC KSCA ETTC TSPA CE |
| 06COLOMBO947 |
SRI LANKA WILL ATTEND RED CROSS-RED CRESCENT [...] (SBU) Poloff delivered Reftel demarche to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assistant Director for UN and Multilateral Affairs Sumedha Ekanayake June 5. Ekanayake said Sri Lanka will send a delegation to the Red Cross- Red Crescent scheduled for June 20-21 in Geneva, and his government supports [...] |
2006-06-06 10:39:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | AORC PHUM PREF PREL ICRC CE |
| 06COLOMBO958 |
EAC MEETING 7 JUNE 2006 [...] (SBU) Colombo EAC met June 7 to discuss the June 6 early morning claymore mine attack along the main road from Colombo to the airport north of town. The latest information indicates the explosion occurred near the entrance to a Navy base (which processes new recruits) about five hundred meter [...] |
2006-06-07 11:40:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ASEC CASC CE PTER |
| 06COLOMBO966 |
DEMARCHE ON ADDRESSING IRAN ISSUE AT JUNE 12-16 [...] No summary [...] |
2006-06-08 09:59:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 06COLOMBO970 |
SRI LANKA: AMBASSADOR STRESSES HUMAN RIGHTS AS [...] No summary [...] |
2006-06-08 10:42:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO971 |
SRI LANKA CLOSE TO ENDORSING PSI [...] (C) Foreign Secretary Palihakkara told Ambassador June 8 that the MFA had "made some headway" on obtaining GSL consensus on participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). Palihakkara said that he had sent a letter to the Ministry of Defence and to the President's office stating [...] |
2006-06-08 11:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PARM KNNP MNUC PREL CE |
| 06COLOMBO976 |
SRI LANKA: POPULATION MOVEMENTS IN CONFLICT AREAS [...] (C) The unsteady security environment since April 2006, including ethnic communal incidents and military action, has led to displacement among Sinhalese, Muslim, and Tamil communities in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) currently estima [...] |
2006-06-09 06:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREF PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO989 |
SRI LANKA: ASSESSING UNOHCHR FIELD PRESENCE [...] (U) Summary: Poloff met with United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) Sri Lanka representative Rory Mungoven on June 9 to discuss the successes and constraints of the program and how the U.S. could buttress OHCHR's mandate in Sri Lanka. Mungoven noted moderately [...] |
2006-06-12 11:21:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PTER PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO990 |
SRI LANKA: LTTE REFUSES TO MEET GOVERNMENT [...] (C) Summary. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) surprised most observers by derailing diplomatic efforts to salvage the peace process, refusing to hold talks on the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission June 8-9 in Oslo. Moreover, in the wake of the EU listing of the Tigers, the LTTE has said [...] |
2006-06-12 11:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM PREL CE |
| 06COLOMBO992 |
MALDIVES: MINIMAL PROGRESS ON REFORMS, BUT [...] (U) Summary: Following the Government of the Republic of Maldives (GORM) publication of a Reform Roadmap, the President's office issued a decree on freedom of assembly May 15 to complement the Roadmap and expand civil liberties. Nonetheless, police arrested over 120 demonstrators taking part [...] |
2006-06-13 08:21:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM MV |
| 06COLOMBO996 |
SRI LANKA: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON PROLIFERATION [...] (C) Ambassador reminded Foreign Secretary Palihakkara June 13 that the US would like the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) to attend the June 23 Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) High-Level Political Meeting (HLPM) in Poland. Palihakkara stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had recomm [...] |
2006-06-13 10:52:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PARM KNNP MNUC PREL KACT CE |
| 06COLOMBO997 |
SRI LANKA: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS [...] No summary [...] |
2006-06-13 11:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM CE |
| 06COLOMBO998 |
SRI LANKA: FOREIGN SECRETARY DISCUSSES OSLO, [...] (C) Summary: Ambassador met Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palihakkara and Peace Secretariat Chief and head of the Oslo delegation Kohona on June 13 in the wake of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) refusal to enter talks with the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) in Oslo on June 8-9 on t [...] |
2006-06-13 11:36:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO100 |
SRI LANKA: INTERNATIONAL NGOS FACE CLIMATE OF [...] (C) Summary: Elements of the government appear to be orchestrating a campaign against international NGOs, particularly those working in LTTE-controlled areas. On January 11, a mob led by the nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party stormed the Colombo office of the Dutch NGO ZOA Refugee [...] |
2007-01-17 12:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1002 |
SRI LANKA: CHARGE PRESSES MINISTER OF POWER AND ENERGY ON [...] (SBU) Summary: Charge met Power and Energy Minister Seneviratne to continue pressing for the Ceylon Electricity Board to deliver contractually-required letters of credit to U.S. independent power producer AES. The minister said that he hoped to resolve the issue by getting the cabinet to offic [...] |
2007-07-17 11:52:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EINV ENRG PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1003 |
EASTERN PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL ASSASSINATED [...] (U) On July 16, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Chief Secretary of the Eastern Provincial Council H.M. Herath Abeyweera in his office in Trincomalee. The gunmen fired several rounds at point blank range before fleeing the scene. It is unclear how the assailants were able to enter Abeyw [...] |
2007-07-17 12:06:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1016 |
COLOMBO CELEBRATION MARKS VICTORY IN THE EAST [...] (C) Summary. On July 19 the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) held a ceremony in Colombo's Independence Square to celebrate the military victory in the East. The U.S., United Kingdom, and India sent their Defense Attaches to observe, while many countries opted not to attend at all. The Preside [...] |
2007-07-19 12:17:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1017 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT PLANS TO RELEASE ACSA [...] (C) SUMMARY: Opposition parties are trying to make political hay out of the GSL's execution of an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the USG. At the time it was signed on March 5, 2007, by Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa and Ambassador Blake, Embassy issued a short [...] |
2007-07-19 12:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1020 |
MAIN OPPOSITION AND RULING PARTY SPLINTER GROUP [...] (C) Summary. On July 19, the leading opposition United National Party and the recently-formed Sri Lanka Freedom Party/Mahajana (SLFP/M) wing (ref) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The agreement stipulates that the two groups will jointly contest future elections. It outlines th [...] |
2007-07-20 10:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1023 |
SRI LANKA: POLICE FORCES KILL TAMIL TIGER LEADER [...] (SBU) Elite Sri Lankan police officers known as Special Task Forces (STF) killed six Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres on Saturday, July 21, including the Ampara area leader known as Ravindran, recovering a cache of weapons and ammunition. The STF reported that its raid was in [...] |
2007-07-23 13:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1025 |
SRI LANKA: REQUEST FOR UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES [...] (C) Charge and Pol Chief met Foreign Minister Bogollagama on July 20 and informed him according to reftel that the U.S. could not provide Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to the Sri Lankan military at this time. Charge explained that the U.S. interagency process had determined that the targeting and [...] |
2007-07-24 02:48:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV MASS |
| 07COLOMBO1029 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT MODERATES OPTIMISTIC ABOUT [...] (C) SUMMARY: The representative of the President's party on the committee to develop a consensus devolution proposal told Charge on June 23 he was confident President Rajapaksa would accept the consensus on power-sharing with the regions and the country's minorities. Foreign Minister Bogollag [...] |
2007-07-24 23:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO103 |
BFIF FY07 PROPOSALS [...] No summary [...] |
2007-01-18 09:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP ECON EFIC ETRD CE MV |
| 07COLOMBO1031 |
SRI LANKA: WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT SECRETARY ENGAGES [...] (C) Summary. On July 10, Charge and Poloff called on Secretary of the Ministry of Child Development and Women's SIPDIS Empowerment Indrani Sugathadasa to brief her on Sri Lanka's Tier 2 Watch List status and discuss Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) efforts to address trafficking of women and [...] |
2007-07-25 06:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KWMN KPAO ELAB KCRM SOCI |
| 07COLOMBO1036 |
SRI LANKA: CONDITIONS DETERIORATING IN JAFFNA; [...] (C) SUMMARY: Conditions in the military-controlled portion of the Jaffna peninsula are deteriorating, with eight extra-judicial killings in just three days and 21 dead in the past two weeks. Among the dead is a Tamil employee of the Danish Refugee Council, who was shot twice in the face at [...] |
2007-07-25 10:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1045 |
SRI LANKA: CONDITIONS FOR "UP-COUNTRY" TAMILS [...] (C) SUMMARY: There are approximately 1.5 million Tamils, mostly of Indian origin and often referred to as "Up-Country" Tamils, working on tea, rubber and coconut plantations in Sri Lanka. Plantation exports account for more than 50 percent of Sri Lanka's gross domestic product, but the Govern [...] |
2007-07-27 07:27:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1046 |
SRI LANKA: 1206 FUNDING JUSTIFICATION FOR FY2008 [...] (SBU) Embassy supports the allocation of fiscal year 2008 funds under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) section 1206 for installation of a high frequency surface wave (HFSW) radar near Arugam Bay (Okanda) on the southeastern coast of Sri Lanka. The total estimated cost of this p [...] |
2007-07-27 08:45:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL MASS MOPS MARR PTER CE |
| 07COLOMBO1048 |
OPPOSITION RALLY DRAWS SIGNIFICANT CROWD AND [...] (C) Summary: On July 26, the newly formed United National Party/Sri Lanka Freedom Party-Mahajana Wing alliance, now called the National Congress, held its first public rally at Colombo's Hyde Park with the theme "Country is ruined. Come forward." Rumors that the Government would try to preve [...] |
2007-07-27 09:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1050 |
SRI LANKA: EMBASSY HELPS GLOBAL ENERGY REVIVE ITS OIL [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Embassy continues advocacy for U.S. firm Global Energy and Industrial Operations, Inc., which seeks to build and operate an $800 million oil refinery near Colombo. The project has been stalled since 2004, when Global Energy thought it had a deal upon signing a memorandum of und [...] |
2007-07-30 06:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EINV ENRG PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1054 |
SRI LANKA: SUPREME COURT ALLOWS CASE AGAINST [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Supreme Court on July 27 allowed a case filed by the Sinhalese nationalist parties against the constitutionality of the CFA to proceed. The Court of Appeals had previously dismissed the suit. The line of questioning by Chief Justice Silva may give an indication that he inte [...] |
2007-07-30 12:22:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1055 |
SRI LANKA: LITTLE PROGRESS ON COMPLIANCE WITH [...] (C) On July 26, Acting DCM and Econ Chief called on Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary for UN and Multilateral Affairs Sarala Fernando to follow up on earlier demarches (refs E and F) urging Sri Lanka to comply with UNSCR 1747. EmbOffs specifically emphasized the requirement to [...] |
2007-07-31 06:16:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | KNNP PARM PREL ETTC EFIN IR CE |
| 07COLOMBO1056 |
SRI LANKA: CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR SAYS ECONOMY IS BETTER [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: In a recent presentation trumpeting the health of the Sri Lankan economy, Central Bank governor Cabraal told heads of missions and donor agencies that return to civil war was not ruining growth or busting the government's budget. The governor predicted that GDP growth would exc [...] |
2007-07-31 08:03:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EINV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1057 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT STILL WORKING ON PLANS FOR [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: The government of Sri Lanka announced soon after consolidating military control over the East (ref A) that it would ask donors to fund development of the area. The president has designated his brother Basil as the point man for the Eastern development push. Basil told UN offic [...] |
2007-07-31 10:22:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID EINV PGOV PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1058 |
SRI LANKA TO CONSIDER ADOPTING CONVENTION FOR THE [...] No summary [...] |
2007-07-31 10:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PTER KNNP MCAP PINR PINS PARM PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1067 |
SRI LANKA: DEMARCHE RESPONSE ON AMERICAN RED CROSS [...] No summary [...] |
2007-08-01 10:14:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREF PREL PHUM ICRC CE |
| 07COLOMBO1071 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT'S SOUTHERN POLITICAL BASE [...] (C) SUMMARY: President Rajapaksa is losing support among his political base in southern coastal towns to former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, whose recent alliance with the United National Party (UNP) has re-energized the opposition. In an effort to sway public opinion in his favor, [...] |
2007-08-01 11:34:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1077 |
SRI LANKA AND MALDIVES: 62ND UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY [...] (SBU) On July 26, A/DCM called on Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary for UN and Multilateral Affairs Sarala Fernando to request a list of high-level officials planning to attend the 62nd UN General Assembly (UNGA). Fernando replied that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and [...] |
2007-08-02 08:42:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL ITRA OVIP KSEP UNGA CE MV |
| 07COLOMBO1078 |
SRI LANKA: JAFFNA HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE ENDS CONTACT [...] (C) SUMMARY: Long-time Embassy interlocutors in Jaffna, including those who met with Assistant Secretary Boucher in May 2007, report that they continue to feel pressure from the government, particularly the Jaffna military commander. Contacts have told us that in addition to the GSL curtailin [...] |
2007-08-03 06:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1079 |
SRI LANKA: DEFECTIONS REDUCE PRESIDENT'S [...] (C) SUMMARY: On August 2, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) Party leader, Minister of Youth Empowerment and Socio-Economic Development Arumugan Thondaman, and four out of five CWC Members of Parliament announced they would no longer vote with the President's coalition. The one CWC parliam [...] |
2007-08-03 08:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1087 |
MALDIVES: KEY GOVERNMENT REFORMERS RESIGN [...] (C) Summary. On August 5, Attorney General Hassan Saeed and Justice Minister Mohamed Jameel, both leading members of the "New Maldives" group of reform-minded ministers, resigned from Government, accusing the President of obstructing the reform process. Local press and POL section contacts [...] |
2007-08-06 13:01:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO109 |
SRI LANKA: DEVOLUTION PROPOSAL ON TRACK, BUT WILL [...] (C) SUMMARY: Tissa Vitharana, Chair of the All-Party Representative Committee (APRC), has culled common elements from several devolution proposals and offered a compromise document for discussion within the committee. In a January 17 meeting with the Ambassador, Vitharana explained that he ba [...] |
2007-01-19 06:05:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1093 |
SRI LANKA: EAST DEVELOPMENT -- TRINCOMALEE NOT READY TO [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Trincomalee, the eastern seaboard town boasting one of Asia's finest natural harbors, is underdeveloped and depressed as a result of over two decades of civil war in Sri Lanka. The government wants to translate its recent reassertion of control over the east into development, mu [...] |
2007-08-08 11:44:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID ECON EINV PTER CE |
| 07COLOMBO1103 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT APPEARS READY TO ACCEPT [...] (C) SUMMARY: The chair of the committee to work out a consensus devolution proposal reported that the President and all parties represented in the current government had agreed to support a compromise. This foresees the province, rather than the district, as the unit of devolution. This con [...] |
2007-08-09 10:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1106 |
SRI LANKA: HUMANITARIAN ACCESS COMMITTEE REVIEWS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, currently visiting Sri Lanka, attended the 11th Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA) meeting chaired by Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe on August 7. Charg [...] |
2007-08-10 05:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID PREF PHUM PGOV PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1113 |
SRI LANKA: DEFENSE SECRETARY OUTLINES PLAN FOR [...] (C) Defense Secretary (and brother of the President) Gothabaya Rajapaksa told Charge and Pol Chief on August 9 of his plans to stabilize the security environment in Sri Lanka's East, where government forces recently routed the remaining regular Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces. [...] |
2007-08-13 10:45:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1114 |
SRI LANKA: USAID LAUNCHES NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION [...] SUMMARY: The final version of the USAID-sponsored National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP), which outlines key steps the Government and private sector can take to address corruption, was presented at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) on July 28 as part of the [...] |
2007-08-13 11:12:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | EAID KCOR PGOV PREL ECON CE |
| 07COLOMBO112 |
SRI LANKA: 1206 BOAT TRAINING TO SUPPORT [...] (U) Post supports PACOM's approval of $1.4 million to conduct boat training with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) through 1206 FY07 funding. This initiative provides training and equipment necessary for the SLN to effectively conduct Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations off the coast of [...] |
2007-01-19 09:03:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER PGOV MOPS PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1123 |
SRI LANKA: PRIME MINISTER LASHES OUT AT UN UNDER [...] (C) SUMMARY: UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes visited Sri Lanka from August 6-9, the first high-level UN visit to Sri Lanka in almost a year. Holmes met with senior Government officials, attended the first year anniversary of the killing of 17 Action Against Hun [...] |
2007-08-14 12:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1127 |
SRI LANKA: COMPROMISE ON DEVOLUTION SHOWS SIGNS OF [...] SUMMARY: The deal the President put together on devolution (reftel) has come under fire from Sinhalese hardliners, delaying its approval for at least several days, perhaps much longer. The radical Sinhalese Buddhist monk-based party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) objected to the compromise, insi [...] |
2007-08-15 12:31:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO113 |
GOVERNMENT AGREES TO TEMPORARY CEASEFIRE IN [...] (SBU) At the fourth Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Affairs chaired by Minister for Human Rights and Disaster Management Samarasinghe and Defense Secretary Rajapaksa on January 19, Samarasinghe briefed selected donors, UN agency representatives, Ambassador and AID Mission Director o [...] |
2007-01-19 09:32:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1134 |
SRI LANKA: COLOMBO PORT STRUGGLING TO KEEP ITS DOMINANCE IN [...] SUMMARY: Due to congestion, low productivity, increasing freight rates, and security concerns caused by the conflict, global shipping lines have begun bypassing Sri Lanka in favor of India's emerging ports. In the last six months, shipping costs from Colombo have nearly doubled to $600 per T [...] |
2007-08-16 11:01:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EINV ETRD EWWT CE |
| 07COLOMBO115 |
SRI LANKA: MUSLIM PARTY LEADER ACCUSES GOVERNMENT [...] (C) SUMMARY: Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakim complained to Ambassador on January 19 that the President's brother and senior political advisor Basil Rajapaksa had employed strong-arm tactics to induce members of his party to join the government. Hakim said, however, that he was s [...] |
2007-01-19 10:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1161 |
MALDIVES: REFORM-MINDED FOREIGN MINISTER RESIGNS; [...] (C) SUMMARY: On August 21, key Government reformer and Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed resigned from his post, joining the Attorney General and Justice Minister who resigned earlier this month (ref a). Embassy contacts tell us that Shaheed had several reasons to resign, including a scheduled [...] |
2007-08-22 12:02:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1165 |
SRI LANKA: TRINCOMALEE TAMILS WARY OF GOVERNMENT [...] (C) SUMMARY: DCM met with local government officials, civil society leaders, and community members in the eastern city of Trincomalee on August 10-12th to discuss the security and humanitarian situation in the area and promote policies that will foster peace and economic development. The Gov [...] |
2007-08-24 08:07:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV EAID PTER PHUM PREF MOPS PREL KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1166 |
MALDIVES: NEW FOREIGN, JUSTICE MINISTERS NAMED; [...] (C) SUMMARY: President Gayoom on August 23 appointed two new cabinet ministers, Abdullah Shahid as Foreign Minister and Mohamed Muiz Adnan as Justice Minister. Shahid and Muiz were previously both senior officials in their respective ministries. In addition to the new ministers, Gayoom has [...] |
2007-08-24 09:20:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1168 |
SRI LANKA: NATIONALISTS THREATEN TO END SUPPORT [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vikmuthi Peramuna (JVP) has threatened to withdraw its support from outside for the government if the All-Party Representative Committee consensus in favor of meaningful devolution to the provinces is allowed to stand. The JVP insists on retainin [...] |
2007-08-27 09:33:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1170 |
FOREIGN MINISTER AND AMBASSADOR DISCUSS DEVOLUTION [...] Summary: In an August 27 meeting, Foreign Minister Bogollagama and Ambassador reviewed human rights, the status of the All Parties Representative Committee (APRC) deliberations, and a request by the Foreign Minister to meet the Secretary anytime between October 4 and 8 in Washington. The Amb [...] |
2007-08-27 11:37:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1171 |
SRI LANKA: EMINENT PERSONS REASSURED AFTER MEETING [...] (C) SUMMARY: The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) held its third plenary meeting with the Commission of Inquiry (COI) August 17 - 20. The positive tone of the meeting reassured even skeptics within the IIGEP. U.S. Eminent Person Gene Dewey noted that the possibilit [...] |
2007-08-27 12:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1182 |
SRI LANKA PROMISES RESPONSE ON UNSCR 1737 AND 1747 [...] (S) Ambassador on August 24 sent a letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama outlining US concerns about Sri Lanka's lack of compliance with UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 and 1747. Ambassador noted in the letter that Sri Lanka's Bank of Ceylon maintains a correspondent [...] |
2007-08-29 12:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1184 |
"NEW MALDIVES" MINISTERS WHO RESIGNED PREDICT [...] (C) Summary: At a private dinner on 8/29 hosted by Ambassador, the three leading "New Maldives" advocates for political reform, all of whom resigned from the government in recent days, candidly discussed the bleak outlook for political reform and the unsuccessful negotiations they had with Pr [...] |
2007-08-30 11:30:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV MV |
| 07COLOMBO1186 |
MALDIVES: PRESIDENT GAYOOM SAYS REFERENDUM [...] (C) Summary: Maldives President Gayoom told Ambassador August 28 that the country's August 18 referendum had been "well-organized," "in general, free and fair," and had produced an outcome of 62 percent in favor of a "U.S.-style" presidential system. Opposition Maldives Democratic Party leade [...] |
2007-08-30 12:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PHUM PREL KWWW ETRD EAID MV |
| 07COLOMBO1187 |
SRI LANKA: DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT FEARS RETALIATION [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Defense Correspondent Iqbal Athas is preparing to temporarily leave Sri Lanka with his family following a barrage of threats and intimidation apparently orchestrated by the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL). On August 12, he wrote an article for the Sunday Times about the Ukraini [...] |
2007-08-30 12:31:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1188 |
SRI LANKA OPEN TO ENGAGEMENT ON TIP ACTION PLAN [...] (C) SUMMARY: DCM and Poloff called on Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona on August 23 to deliver ref A talking points and Trafficking in Persons (TIP) action plan. DCM noted that the primary reason for watchlisting Sri Lanka was insufficient evidence of Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) efforts t [...] |
2007-08-30 12:41:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1196 |
SRI LANKA - DCHA/FFP MONITORING REPORT ON WORLD FOOD [...] (U) Summary: From July 7 - 13, 2007, USAID/DCHA Food for Peace Asia Team Leader (FFP/TL) Matthew Nims and USAID/DCHA Food for Peace Officer Katey Schein (FFP/O) visited Sri Lanka to monitor the WFP Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) which receives U.S. Title II Emergency Assistanc [...] |
2007-08-31 06:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID PGOV PHUM PREF CE PINS |
| 07COLOMBO12 |
COUNTRY CLEARANCE GRANTED FOR ERIC B. KING, [...] Post grants country clearance to Eric B. King, Country Manager, OFO, Washington D.C. The purpose of his visit is to conduct an initial visit as the country manager with the CSI Team in Colombo, Sri Lanka from January 7-14, 2007. Embassy control officer is Mr. Richard Merrin, Commercial Attach [...] |
2007-01-04 12:21:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | EAID ECON EWWT OTRA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1207 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE IN SOUTHERN MANNAR [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) began a military offensive on August 27 to clear Silavaturai and neighboring villages in southwestern Mannar district of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres. About four thousand civilians are reportedly displaced by the fighting. UN interlo [...] |
2007-09-04 11:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1216 |
MALDIVES: FINAL REFERENDUM RESULTS ANNOUNCED, BUT [...] SUMMARY: On August 28, the Election Commission announced the final results of the August 18 referendum to decide on Maldives' future system of governance. 95,619 voters endorsed the presidential system, while 58,504 supported the parliamentary system. The final results do not require the app [...] |
2007-09-05 08:30:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1218 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT REVIVES SOVEREIGN BOND ISSUE PLANS; [...] (SBU) Summary: The Government of Sri Lanka plans to issue the country's first international sovereign bond, in hopes of raising $500 million to fund infrastructure projects. However, the main opposition United National Party has announced that a future UNP government would not honor the bonds [...] |
2007-09-05 12:48:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EINV EFIN KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1225 |
HUMAN RIGHTS IN SRI LANKA: SOME IMPROVEMENT BUT [...] (C) SUMMARY: The period April-June 2007 showed a decline relative to the beginning of the year in Colombo and some other parts of Sri Lanka in certain categories of human rights abuses, such as abductions. However, the overall level of human rights violations compared to 2002-2005 remains e [...] |
2007-09-06 11:21:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1232 |
SRI LANKAN PROGRESS ON ISSUES OF CONCERN TO U.S. - [...] (C) As Washington prepares for a busy fall, post thought it would be useful to provide a brief snapshot of where we stand on the key issues in our agenda with Sri Lanka; the outlook for the fall; and what specific steps the U.S. can take to advance our interests here. A number of factors have [...] |
2007-09-07 11:09:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1233 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT TAKES CREDIT FOR INCREASED FLOW OF [...] Summary: Two weeks after returning from a visit to the northern Jaffna Peninsula, the Commissioner General of Essential Services (CGES) on August 30 briefed the diplomatic community and United Nations agency heads in Colombo on steps the Government of Sri Lanka has taken to maintain a steady [...] |
2007-09-10 02:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID PGOV PHUM PREF CE |
| 07COLOMBO124 |
MALDIVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AGREES TO QUIET [...] (C) During a January 16 trip to Male', Ambassador encouraged Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed to consider establishing LOW-KEY diplomatic contacts with Israeli officials with a view to establishing full diplomatic relations at a future date. (Note: The Ambassador had earlier discussed this [...] |
2007-01-22 09:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV MV |
| 07COLOMBO1252 |
SRI LANKA: SUCCESS IN GARMENT IPR CASES; LESS PROGRESS IN [...] Summary: US apparel brands have found some level of success in combating piracy in Sri Lankan courts. In August 2007, the Colombo Commercial High Court issued an order in settlement in favor of Polo/Lauren, LLP, the largest IPR enforcement case in the apparel sector to date. Other companies [...] |
2007-09-12 02:27:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON ETRD KIPR EAID KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1253 |
SRI LANKA LIKELY TO SUPPORT US CANDIDATE FOR [...] No summary [...] |
2007-09-12 06:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL PHUM UNGA UNHRC CE |
| 07COLOMBO1254 |
MALDIVES: RESIGNED MINISTERS CONTINUE REFORM [...] (C) SUMMARY: Former Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed, Justice Minister Mohamed Jameel, and Attorney General Hassan Saeed, the key advocates for reform within the Government until their resignations last month (refs d and e), are reportedly considering joining the opposition Maldivian Democra [...] |
2007-09-12 06:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1259 |
SRI LANKAN NAVY SINKS THREE LARGE LTTE SHIPS IN [...] (S) SUMMARY: On September 12, Ambassador and Defense Attache Oxley met with Sri Lanka Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda to discuss the navy's recent operational successes, including sinking three large Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) weapons supply ships (referred to by the media [...] |
2007-09-12 12:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1260 |
SRI LANKA: CHRISTIANS FACE MOUNTING LEGAL HURDLES [...] (C) SUMMARY: On September 10, Godfrey Yogarajah of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) called on Ambassador to provide an update on the problems faced by Sri Lanka's Christian community. Yogarajah noted that Sri Lankan churches are experiencing a growing number [...] |
2007-09-12 12:30:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1261 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT SHARES HIS VIEWS ON THE [...] SUMMARY: In an early September interview with Indian author and journalist Inderjit Badhwar (full text at www.tamilunitedfront.com/articles/rajapakse.h tml), President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphasized his desire for a political solution that addresses the aspirations of the Tamil people. He also [...] |
2007-09-12 12:47:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1262 |
SRI LANKA: SIT-REP ON THE TSUNAMI WATCH [...] Following local and international media reports of a tsunami watch issued by the Pacific Center, Embassy issued SIPDIS the following warden message at 6:17 p.m. local time: "7.9 earthquake reported in Indonesia. Tsunami watch issued for the Indian Ocean, including Sri Lanka. People in co [...] |
2007-09-12 13:09:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | CASC AEMR PREL PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1263 |
SRI LANKA: SIT-REP FOLLOW-UP ON TSUNAMI WARNING [...] After a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck the west coast of Indonesia and the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) issued a tsunami warning, Embassy convened the Emergency Action SIPDIS Committee at 7:00 p.m. local time to discuss contingencies and preparedness measures in the event of an tsunami. [...] |
2007-09-12 14:50:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | CASC AEMR PREL PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1266 |
SRI LANKA: RESPONSE ON PRESIDENT'S HUMAN RIGHTS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador, Embassy staff, and Washington-based officials have made a consistent, intensive effort over the past year to engage the Sri Lankan government on improving its human rights record, and to support and defend human rights advocates in the country. Sri Lanka has recen [...] |
2007-09-13 03:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1267 |
MALDIVES LIKELY TO SUPPORT US CANDIDATE FOR [...] No summary [...] |
2007-09-13 04:13:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL PHUM UNGA UNHRC MV |
| 07COLOMBO127 |
SRI LANKAN ARMY TAKES VAKARAI; TIGERS ATTACK [...] (C) Summary: Security forces captured the eastern LTTE redoubt of Vakarai on January 20 after almost three months of fighting. This significant victory in the east may embolden the GSL to continue its campaign to recapture LTTE-held territory in the north and east. On January 21, a cluster o [...] |
2007-01-22 12:13:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | MOPS PREL PTER PHUM PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1273 |
SRI LANKA: OFFICIAL DELEGATION LIST FOR 62ND UNGA [...] (SBU) Embassy Colombo has received by diplomatic note the following list (para 2) of the official delegation and media members who are scheduled to visit the USA accompanying H.E. the President of Sri Lanka for the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. 2. (SBU) (begin list) Composition [...] |
2007-09-13 12:07:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL ITRA OVIP UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO128 |
SRI LANKA: IPR RAID SEIZES 17,000 FAKE "POLO" BRAND SHIRTS [...] Summary: Sri Lankan police on January 11 raided a Sri Lankan factory manufacturing and supplying counterfeit "Polo" brand garments. The raid was the largest intellectual property rights (IPR) enforcement bust since Sri Lanka began to enforce its 2003 IPR law in 2004. End Summary. 2. On [...] |
2007-01-23 03:13:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON ETRD KIPR EAID CE |
| 07COLOMBO1284 |
BUILDING A SOUTH ASIA COUNTERTERRORISM STRATEGY [...] (S) SUMMARY: Chiefs of Mission and other Embassy representatives from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan met under the auspices of the Regional Security Initiative (RSI) in Colombo on September 7 to discuss regional counterterrorism strategy with the Coordinator for Counterte [...] |
2007-09-17 11:13:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | PTER PGOV PREL PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1286 |
ICAO ASSEMBLY: SRI LANKA SUPPORT FOR U.S. RE-ELECTION TO [...] (U) Summary: The Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Civil Aviation Authority support re-election of the United States to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Sri Lanka plans to send a four-person delegation, including Minister of Ports and Aviation, C [...] |
2007-09-17 11:25:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | EAIR PREL AORC ICAO CE |
| 07COLOMBO1290 |
MALDIVES: OFFICIAL DELEGATION LIST FOR 62ND UNGA [...] (SBU) Embassy Colombo has received by diplomatic note the following information (para 2) on the Maldivian official delegation to the 62nd United Nations General Assembly. 2. (SBU) (begin list) Composition of Delegation for the Official Visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Rep [...] |
2007-09-18 07:44:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL ITRA OVIP UNGA MV |
| 07COLOMBO13 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT AIR STRIKES KILL 16 [...] (C) Summary: On January 2 Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) jets bombed a northwestern coastal area near Mannar. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) website Tamilnet reported that 16 civilians died in the air strike. Government officials countered that the SLAF targeted and hit a known Sea Tig [...] |
2007-01-04 12:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | MOPS PTER PHUM PREL PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO130 |
SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION LEADER SEEKS TO MEND PARTY [...] (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador met opposition leader Wickremesinghe on January 22 to urge him to seek common ground with his UNP critics, including leading dissident Karu Jayasuriya. Our only interest was in supporting the peace process, Ambassador noted, but the current round of political wrangli [...] |
2007-01-23 05:22:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1301 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT'S BROTHER BASIL TAKES A [...] (U) The President's brother, Basil Rajapaksa, took a seat in parliament today, replacing Muslim MP Anver Ismail, who died recently, reportedly from alcohol-related illness. Speaker of Parliament Lokubandara swore in Basil, whose nomination had gone the previous day to the Election Commissione [...] |
2007-09-19 12:26:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1304 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT OUTLINES EFFORTS TO COMBAT [...] (SBU) Summary. DCM and Poloff recently met with GSL officials from the Foreign Employment Bureau, the National Child Protection Authority, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Development, and the Sri Lanka Police to present the Department's TIP Action Plan and follow up on an Augu [...] |
2007-09-20 10:33:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1305 |
SRI LANKA: 6.2% GDP GROWTH IN FIRST HALF OF 2007 AMIDST [...] (U) Summary and comment: Sri Lanka's GDP grew at an annual rate of 6.2% for the first half of 2007. The trade deficit narrowed as export growth significantly exceeded import growth. Growing remittances compensated for much of the trade deficit and boosted foreign exchange reserves to a level [...] |
2007-09-20 10:36:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN ETRD KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1308 |
SRI LANKA LIKELY TO SUPPORT U.S. CANDIDATE FOR [...] DCM phoned Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona on September 20 to follow up on ref b demarche. Kohona indicated that Sri Lanka would likely support the U.S. candidate, remarking that this was "an easy decision." He said he would ask the Office of UN and Multilateral Affairs to answer the demarc [...] |
2007-09-21 07:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PHUM UNHRC CE |
| 07COLOMBO1309 |
SRI LANKAN ATTENDANCE COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIE [...] No summary [...] |
2007-09-21 07:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1313 |
SRI LANKA: TOURISM INDUSTRY PINS HOPE ON NEW TOURISM ACT [...] Summary: On October 1, following a two year delay, the government will implement the Tourism Act of 2005. The law provides for greater private sector participation in government-controlled tourism regulatory, promotion and training agencies. More importantly, the private sector will now ha [...] |
2007-09-24 05:12:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON ETRD EFIN EAID KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1322 |
SRI LANKA: PROGRESS ON DEVOLUTION PROPOSAL STALLED [...] (C) SUMMARY: The All-Party Representative Committee (APRC) has made substantial progress on drafting its devolution proposal, but remains stuck on some final key issues. The President, under pressure from his Sinhalese base to stick to the "unitary state" concept, has decided to delay action [...] |
2007-09-25 10:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1329 |
MALDIVES TO SUPPORT US CANDIDATE FOR COMMITTEE [...] No summary [...] |
2007-09-27 11:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PHUM UNHRC MV |
| 07COLOMBO133 |
SRI LANKA: DEATH THREATS CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE OF [...] (C) Summary. Death threats are aggravating the atmosphere of intimidation in Sri Lanka. Twenty-two individuals, mostly anti-war advocates and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sympathizers, received death threats in January from a shadowy Sinhalese ultra-nationalist group called the " [...] |
2007-01-23 10:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO134 |
SRI LANKA: FOREIGN SECRETARY ASKS FOR PATIENCE ON [...] (C) Summary: Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona called an evening meeting with Ambassador Blake on January 22. Kohona expressed concern that a pending public letter from U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone to the White House would call for a special international envoy to investigate human rights. [...] |
2007-01-23 10:06:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1348 |
MALDIVES: BLAST IN MALE APPARENTLY TARGETS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: A blast in Male's Sultan Park on the afternoon of September 29 wounded 12 foreign tourists. Foreign Minister Shahid told Ambassador the same day that the Government of Maldives (GORM) was shocked by the incident and does not know who was responsible. Eleven arrests have so fa [...] |
2007-10-01 10:26:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PTER PREL CASC MV |
| 07COLOMBO1349 |
DISCUSSION WITH PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR ON [...] (SBU) Ambassador met on September 28 with Basil Rajapaksa, the President's brother, senior political advisor, and coordinator of the stabilization and reconstruction program in the east, to discuss the opportunities and risks in the east (reftels). Rajapaksa acknowledged the need to stop ill [...] |
2007-10-01 11:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV EAID CE |
| 07COLOMBO135 |
MALDIVES: A NEED TO STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY TO [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Ambassador met government officials and the leader of the opposition in Male' on January 16 to discuss the lagging democratic reform process. Ambassador also promoted the Maldives' purchase of Boeing aircraft and a potential joint venture with an American wind power firm. Int [...] |
2007-01-23 10:19:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1352 |
SRI LANKA: CONFLICT CONTRIBUTES TO BRAIN DRAIN [...] (U) SUMMARY: Professionals and business people are steadily migrating out of Sri Lanka in pursuit of better living conditions and a more stable business environment. Many are Tamils and Muslims fleeing the conflict and persistent harassment. The "brain drain" is depleting a local talent pool [...] |
2007-10-02 05:31:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ETRD ELAB KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1355 |
SRI LANKA TEXTILES AND APPAREL SECTOR: UPDATED STATS AND [...] Summary: While growth in Sri Lanka's textile and apparel export market has slowed since expiration of the Multifiber Agreement, the sector continues to maintain market share and in some cases grow in niche garment industry markets. Exports to the U.S., Sri Lanka's largest market, were flat i [...] |
2007-10-02 10:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ETRD KTEX CE |
| 07COLOMBO1357 |
SRI LANKA SUPPORTS IN PRINCIPLE DRAFT RESOLUTION [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-02 12:34:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | AORC PHUM KWMN SOCI UN CE |
| 07COLOMBO1358 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT CRITICIZES EMINENT PERSONS; [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: The International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) submitted its second Interim Report to the President on September 18 and released its third public statement on September 19. The Commission of Inquiry (COI) and Attorney General's (AG) office sent strongly-worded [...] |
2007-10-02 12:36:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1369 |
FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER ASSESSES STABILITY OF [...] (C) Summary: In a lunch on October 3 with Ambassador, former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that his breakaway faction from the ruling SLFP party and the opposition UNP have not yet been able to persuade the JVP to vote against the Government in November, mostly because the JVP st [...] |
2007-10-04 08:37:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1371 |
256TH SESSION OF THE COLOMBO PLAN COUNCIL [...] (U) SUMMARY: On September 27, 2007, The Colombo Plan Council convened for the 256th Session and discussed FY 2005/6 audited accounts, the 2006/7 draft annual report, a special paper on "Strategic Plan of The Colombo Plan 2025," and the needs assessment questionnaire. Ambassador Blake present [...] |
2007-10-04 12:04:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL SNAR SOCI ECON EAID CE |
| 07COLOMBO1372 |
MEETING WITH NATIONALIST JVP PARTY [...] (C) Summary: Ambassador met for a spirited but cordial hour with JVP Parliamentary group leader Wimal Weerawansa, on October 1 at the JVP Party-Headquarters. Weerawansa expressed dissatisfaction with President Rajapaksa's failure to reduce inflation and corruption but said the JVP has not decid [...] |
2007-10-04 12:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1384 |
SRI LANKA PROTESTS IMPROMPTU VISIT BY ICELANDIC [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: An Icelandic diplomat on a tourist visa paid an impromptu visit to the Tamil Tiger de facto capital, Kilinochchi. Icelandic FSO Bjarni Vestmann, who apparently was under consideration for a position with the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), decided to accompany the SLMM on [...] |
2007-10-05 10:42:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1385 |
MALDIVES: DEMARCHE DELIVERED ON DRAFT RESOLUTION [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-05 10:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | AORC PHUM KWMN SOCI UN MV |
| 07COLOMBO1387 |
MUSLIM LEADERS VOICE CONCERNS ABOUT LAND RIGHTS [...] (U) SUMMARY: On October 2, Ambassador hosted prominent Muslim leaders for a roundtable discussion on Muslim issues to mark the holy month of Ramadan. Participants noted the absence of Al-Qaida and other radical Islamist terror groups but expressed concern about a growing Wahhabi presence, an [...] |
2007-10-09 06:28:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1391 |
SRI LANKA: MIXED REACTIONS TO NEW U.S. LAW ON MARITIME [...] SUMMARY: Colombo Port authorities and managers of shipping lines expressed opposing views on the ability to meet the new U.S. law on maritime cargo scanning requirements. Authorities of the Port of Colombo maintain that the port will be able to scan all U.S.-bound shipping containers by year [...] |
2007-10-09 09:30:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | EWWT ETRD PREL PTER KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1399 |
SRI LANKA: LAGGING IN WORLD BANK EASE OF DOING BUSINESS [...] Summary: Sri Lanka rated poorly in the World Bank Group's just-released Doing Business 2008 index and in the middle of Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perception Index. In the Ease of Doing Business index, Sri Lanka ranked 101 out of 178 economies. Notable was its ranking of 133 [...] |
2007-10-10 09:14:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON EINV EAID KMCA KCOR CE |
| 07COLOMBO140 |
SRI LANKA: ARMY COMMANDER CONSIDERS CLEARING [...] (C) Summary. Ambassador Blake met with Army Commander Major General Sarath Fonseka on January 23 following the Sri Lanka Army's (SLA) victory in the eastern Tiger (LTTE) strong hold of Vakarai (ref B). Fonseka estimated that the LTTE had been significantly weakened by two and a half months of [...] |
2007-01-24 08:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1400 |
MALDIVES: BOMBING INVESTIGATION YIELDING RESULTS [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Maldivian police have made impressive progress on investigating the bombing in Male' on September 29 (reftel). All remaining suspects in the incident are Maldivian. The site of the bombing has been reopened to the public following the completion of the crime scene investig [...] |
2007-10-10 09:26:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | ASEC PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1402 |
SRI LANKA NOMINATES CANDIDATE FOR UNESCO [...] The Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Post via diplomatic note on October 1 that the Government of Sri Lanka has nominated Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha for election to the UNESCO Executive Board. A document outlining "Sri Lanka's Vision In and For UNESCO" was attach [...] |
2007-10-10 11:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PHUM PREL UNESCO CE |
| 07COLOMBO1403 |
MALDIVES: SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN PAVILION AT MAJOR TRADE SHOW [...] Summary: Post is pleased to report that the American Pavilion at an international trade fair in the Maldives produced encouraging results for participating companies and strengthened U.S. economic ties with Maldives. Fifteen U.S. companies, or their local partners, exhibited as part of an Am [...] |
2007-10-11 03:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP BTIO ENIV ABUD ECON MV |
| 07COLOMBO1406 |
REQUEST FOR TIFA WITH MALDIVES [...] (U) This is an action request for USTR. Please see para two. 2. (SBU) Summary and action request: Post recommends, and seeks USTR guidance on, the start of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) talks with the Government of the Republic of Maldives (GoRM). Post supports the neg [...] |
2007-10-11 09:04:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ETRD ECON ECIN EINV KISL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1407 |
ARBOUR PROVIDES INTERIM READOUT OF HER VISIT TO [...] (C) Summary: At a working lunch on October 11 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed doubt that she will be able to negotiate during this trip an increase in the staff of the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombo with a broad mandate. She wants t [...] |
2007-10-11 09:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PHUM PREL AORC CE |
| 07COLOMBO1408 |
SRI LANKA: RUMORS ABOUND ABOUT KARUNA'S [...] (S/NF) SUMMARY: On October 8, the Hindustan Times reported that pro-government paramilitary Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) military commander Chandrakanthan, more commonly known as Pillaiyan, ousted the group's founder Karuna Amman from the party's Executive Committee over "financia [...] |
2007-10-11 11:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | PGOV PREL PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1421 |
ARBOUR CONCLUDES DISAPPOINTING TRIP TO SRI LANKA [...] (C) Summary. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour completed a five-day visit to Sri Lanka on October 14. UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne told Ambassador that Arbour was disappointed in the outcome of her visit and disturbed by the magnitude of the human rights problems [...] |
2007-10-15 10:21:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1425 |
SRI LANKA: TIGERS STAGE A RAID DEEP IN THE [...] (SBU) On October 15, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base in Yala National Sanctuary, located deep in the predominantly Sinhalese portion of the South. Tamilnet, a pro-LTTE web site, reported that Tigers took a cache of weapons and set the camp ab [...] |
2007-10-16 10:25:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1428 |
TAMIL LEADER REFLECTS ON THE CONFLICT, THE EAST [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-17 08:59:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1439 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT PLANS VISIT TO IRAN TO [...] (C) Summary: President Rajapaksa plans to make a state visit to Iran, probably in December. The focus of the visit will be on trade. Iran is Sri Lanka's sixth largest trading partner -- it provides half of Sri Lanka's crude oil imports and is the fourth largest buyer of Sri Lanka's tea. With [...] |
2007-10-19 05:06:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | ETRD ENRG PREL KNNP IR CE |
| 07COLOMBO1441 |
SRI LANKA: NOMINATION FOR SECRETARY'S [...] Embassy Colombo wishes to nominate Ms. Srinithy Nandasekaran of Sri Lanka for the Secretary's International Woman of Courage Award. As one of Sri Lanka's few female attorneys from the ethnic minority Tamil population, Ms. Nandasekaran has worked tirelessly as a lawyer, judge, and human righ [...] |
2007-10-19 09:22:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL PHUM KWMN KPAO CE |
| 07COLOMBO1444 |
SRI LANKA: TAMIL TIGERS ATTACK NORTH CENTRAL AIR [...] (C) Before daybreak on October 21, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a ground attack on the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) base in Anuradhapura, 210 kilometers north-east of Colombo. Less than an hour later, two LTTE light aircraft dropped bombs over the base, hitting an air [...] |
2007-10-22 10:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1449 |
SRI LANKA: PROPOSED TIP BENCHMARKS [...] In accordance with the Short Term Action Plan for Sri Lanka provided by G/TIP, post recommends the following benchmarks for use in evaluating Government of Sri Lanka progress in combating trafficking in persons: -Working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), set up and be [...] |
2007-10-23 10:08:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1450 |
SRI LANKA: AMBASSADOR LAUNCHES US-FUNDED [...] Summary. Ambassador on October 18 hosted a press event to launch a Department of State and USAID-funded anti-trafficking program implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The event received wide coverage in the Sri Lankan media. The Sri Lanka Police's Women's and Chi [...] |
2007-10-23 10:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1459 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT PROVIDES WEAK RESPONSE TO [...] (C) Summary. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on October 23 provided Charge with an Aide Memoire response to U/S Burns' request for additional information on the GSL's progress on human rights indictments and convictions. The GSL document, although constructive rather than defensive in [...] |
2007-10-24 15:01:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1460 |
SRI LANKA UNDECIDED ON UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-25 07:33:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL PHUM KTIA UN CE |
| 07COLOMBO1461 |
MALDIVES UNDECIDED ON IAAC ELECTION [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-25 07:34:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL AORC UN UNGA MV |
| 07COLOMBO1462 |
MALDIVES: POSITIONS ON UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-25 07:35:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PHUM PREL KTIA UN MV |
| 07COLOMBO1463 |
SRI LANKA UNDECIDED ON IAAC ELECTION [...] No summary [...] |
2007-10-25 08:27:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL AORC UN UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO147 |
MCC IN SRI LANKA: MAJORITY OF INDICATORS PROBABLY NOW [...] (SBU) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: Almost three years ago when Sri Lanka qualified as a Millennium Challenge Account candidate country, many of Sri Lanka's MCC indicators were on a positive trend. Since then, the government has changed hands twice and each new government has proven less commi [...] |
2007-01-24 12:31:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ETRD PHUM SOCI EAID EAIR CE |
| 07COLOMBO1479 |
SRI LANKA: AIR BASE ATTACK RESULTS IN HEAVY [...] SUMMARY: Reports of damage from the October 21 attack on the Anuradhapura air base (ref A) remain varied. The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) reports 8 aircraft destroyed and 14 SLAF casualties, including two pilots. According to a U.S. defense contractor, approximately 75 percent of the SLAF's [...] |
2007-10-30 10:18:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO148 |
SRI LANKA: ATTITUDE SURVEY REVEALS SINHALESE VIEWS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: A Sri Lankan think tank, the Centre for Policy Alternatives, recently released a study intended to provide a measure of public confidence in the peace process and public opinion on resolving the conflict. This attitude survey provides valuable insight into the views of the maj [...] |
2007-01-24 13:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1484 |
SRI LANKA: UN BRIEFS AMBASSADORS ON RESULTS OF [...] (C) SUMMARY: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour did not call publicly for an international human rights monitoring mission during her recent visit here. However, she made her desire for international monitoring clear to Sri Lankan government officials in private. The GSL i [...] |
2007-10-31 09:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1488 |
SRI LANKA: DEBUT SOVEREIGN BOND ISSUE RAISES $500 MILLION [...] (SBU) Summary and comment: International investors, 40% of them American, purchased all $500 million of Sri Lanka's first-ever sovereign bond issue, despite domestic opposition efforts to block the sale. The government offered 8.25% coupon bonds with a five-year maturity, and received orders [...] |
2007-11-01 08:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EFIN EINV ECON KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1489 |
SRI LANKA: MEDIA COME UNDER NEW FIRE; FIGHT BACK [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: A series of recent government actions against media outlets or individual reporters has given rise to concern that the government may again be trying to muzzle or intimidate media critics. The Information Ministry has withdrawn the broadcasting license of a radio network on the [...] |
2007-11-01 10:06:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PHUM PINS KPAO KDEM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1492 |
SRI LANKA TO ENDORSE UNGA RAPE RESOLUTION [...] No summary [...] |
2007-11-01 11:36:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1504 |
SRI LANKA TO ENDORSE US CANDIDATE FOR IAAC ELECTION [...] No summary [...] |
2007-11-02 08:47:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PHUM AORC UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1505 |
SRI LANKA CONFIRMS PARTICIPATION IN THE 4TH [...] No summary [...] |
2007-11-02 08:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV PREL KDEM PHUM UNGA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1506 |
SRI LANKA: DELIVERY OF FATF GUIDANCE REGARDING IRAN REF: A. SECSTATE 149648 B. COLOMBO 1439 C. COLOMBO 1307 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). [...] No summary [...] |
2007-11-02 08:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | EFIN KNNP UNSC IAEA IR CE |
| 07COLOMBO1509 |
SRI LANKA: TIGER POLITICAL WING HEAD KILLED IN AIR [...] (U) LTTE Headquarters announced in a press release on November 2 that LTTE political chief and lead peace negotiator S.P. Thamilchelvan was killed at about 6 a.m. in a Sri Lankan Air Force attack near the LTTE de facto capital of Kilinochchi. Five other LTTE officers, including Lt Col. Anpun [...] |
2007-11-02 09:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PTER MOPS PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO152 |
SRI LANKA: PRESIDENT STRUGGLING IN ATTEMPT TO WOO [...] (C) SUMMARY: President Rajapaksa has yet to announce his anticipated cabinet reshuffle, leading to confusion and speculation in the media and among our political contacts. The Rajapaksa team is struggling to eke out a bare majority of the parliamentary seats. Both the governing Sri Lanka Fre [...] |
2007-01-25 05:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1523 |
SRI LANKA: TAMILCHELVAN'S DEATH - AFTERMATH AND [...] (C) SUMMARY: LTTE Police Chief Nadesan has replaced the deceased Tamilchelvan as head of the LTTE political wing, but will continue to serve as head of the LTTE "police." A former Sri Lankan government peace negotiator noted that Nadesan has little experience in the negotiating field. A No [...] |
2007-11-07 13:04:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS PREL PINR CE |
| 07COLOMBO1526 |
SRI LANKA: GSL HELPED KARUNA ENTER UK ON FALSE [...] (C) SUMMARY: UK High Commissioner Dominic Chilcott briefed Co-Chair Ambassadors on November 7 on the arrest of TMVP leader Karuna Amman for entering the UK on a false Sri Lankan diplomatic passport. Chilcott said there is no question that the GSL, with high-level authorization, knowingly iss [...] |
2007-11-08 11:33:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CVIS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1527 |
SRI LANKA: CO-CHAIRS SEE LITTLE PROSPECT OF A [...] (C) SUMMARY: A meeting of Co-Chair Ambassadors in Colombo on November 5 concluded there will be little scope for promoting new peace talks in the next several months. Participants agreed to propose to capitals that the Co-Chairs principals meet during the first quarter of 2008 in Tokyo. Sever [...] |
2007-11-08 11:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS PINR CE |
| 07COLOMBO1528 |
SRI LANKAN FOR MIN TO TRY TO DISSUADE PRESIDENT [...] (C) SUMMARY: Tourism Minister Moragoda told Ambassador that he was traveling to Tehran in mid-November to advance the President's trip to Iran. Embassy has continued to underline our concerns about Iran's proliferation programs and sponsorship of terrorist activities known to the most senior [...] |
2007-11-08 12:23:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS IR CE |
| 07COLOMBO153 |
SRI LANKA: TAMIL PARLIAMENTARIANS FEAR "ETHNIC [...] (C) SUMMARY: Ambassador met with three Members of Parliament from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a party which shares the political goals of the LTTE, on January 24. The Tamil representatives said they feared an "ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing" of Tamils from the east. Ambassador ex [...] |
2007-01-25 10:52:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1532 |
MALDIVES: ENCOURAGING PROGRESS ON CONSTITUTION; [...] (C) SUMMARY: On the margins of U.S.-Maldives Friendship Week from November 4-6, Ambassador and Poloffs met a number of contacts to discuss the progress of democratic reform in Maldives. Most contacts reported a renewed sense of cooperation between the government and opposition and encoura [...] |
2007-11-09 09:12:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1533 |
SRI LANKA: AMBASSADOR PRESSES FOREIGN MINISTER ON [...] (C) SUMMARY: Foreign Minister Bogollagama requested a meeting with Ambassador on November 7 to follow up on Under Secretary Burns's October meetings with President Rajapaksa SIPDIS in New York and the Foreign Minister in Washington (reftel). He and his staff expressed frustration at their l [...] |
2007-11-09 09:29:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1534 |
AMBASSADOR PRESENTS RADARS AND RIB BOATS TO SRI LANKAN [...] (SBU) Summary: Ambassador handed over to the Sri Lankan Navy Commander a radar-based maritime surveillance system and ten Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats in a ceremony on November 8 at the Trincomalee Base today. In his public remarks, the Ambassador explained that the equipment was transferred u [...] |
2007-11-11 07:19:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | MOPS PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO154 |
SRI LANKA: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS IN CLERGY FACE [...] (C) Summary: Catholic and Protestant clergy engaged in human rights work in the predominantly Tamil North and East report they have received death threats from elements of the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) security forces and their allied paramilitaries, including that of Social Development M [...] |
2007-01-25 10:56:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1542 |
MEETING WITH SRI LANKAN DEFENSE SECRETARY ON [...] (C) Ambassador and EU Head of Mission Wilson met with Defense Secretary Rajapaksa on November 13 to present a list of incidents reported by NGOs operating in eastern Sri Lanka in the last year perpetrated by the paramilitary Karuna Group. Secretary Rajapaksa admitted such incidents were stil [...] |
2007-11-14 13:09:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL EAID PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1546 |
SRI LANKA: TIP INTERIM ASSESSMENT [...] (SBU) After meeting with numerous officials from throughout the GSL, Post assesses that the Government acknowledges the trafficking problem in Sri Lanka and is committed to addressing it. However, resource constraints, a lack of coordination among concerned ministries, and systemic problems [...] |
2007-11-15 10:13:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG CE |
| 07COLOMBO1550 |
IMO COUNCIL ELECTIONS - SRI LANKA AND MALDIVES SUPPORT FOR [...] (SBU) Econoff delivered reftel demarche to Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director for the United Nations and Multilateral Affairs Division, Satya Rodrigo. Rodrigo told Econoff that Sri Lanka will support the U.S. candidacy in the upcoming International Maritime Organization (IMO [...] |
2007-11-15 11:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | AORC EWWT PHSA PREL CE MV |
| 07COLOMBO1551 |
SRI LANKA: BUDGET VOTE A CLIFFHANGER AS JVP [...] (C) SUMMARY: The leader of the principal Sinhalese nationalist party, the JVP, with 37 seats in Parliament, told a rally of supporters on November 13 that the party would not support the government on the crucial budget vote unless its conditions were met. He demanded that the President agree [...] |
2007-11-15 12:20:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1554 |
SRI LANKA: TRO DESIGNATION WELCOMED BY GOVERNMENT [...] No summary [...] |
2007-11-16 10:55:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | KTFN PTER PREL SL |
| 07COLOMBO1560 |
MALDIVES FEEDBACK ON EAST AFRICA SOUTH WEST INDIAN OCEAN [...] (U) Econoff thanked Maldives for their participation in the 2007 East Africa South West Indian Ocean Maritime Security (EASWIO) Conference, and discussed reftel with Maldives Ministry of Transport and Communication's Director of Ports and Maritime, Mohamed Latheef. Latheef led the five-person [...] |
2007-11-19 10:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EWWT MARR PREL MV |
| 07COLOMBO1562 |
SRI LANKA: GSL ARM-TWISTING SUCCEEDS IN GETTING [...] (C) SUMMARY: The government came to its own rescue in a must-win budget vote, using every means at its disposal to ensure passage of its budget in the second reading. President Rajapaksa was once again able to outmaneuver opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. In the process, Rajapaksa repo [...] |
2007-11-19 12:12:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1564 |
SRI LANKA: TRO ASSET FREEZE ALIENATES TAMILS [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: Tamils and some non-Tamil Sri Lankans have conveyed to post predictably negative reactions to the U.S. Government's Executive Order 13224 designation of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)(ref A). They assert the move will hurt Tamils and embolden the government to ta [...] |
2007-11-19 12:27:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | KTFN PTER PREL PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1565 |
SRI LANKA: TRO DESIGNATION WELCOMED BY GOVERNMENT [...] (C) Summary and comment: Ambassador informed the Government of Sri Lanka the evening of November 15 of the forthcoming U.S. designation of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation shortly before Treasury's Washington announcement of the Executive Order 13224 designation. The government welcomed [...] |
2007-11-20 10:42:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | KTFN PTER PREL SL |
| 07COLOMBO158 |
Respected NGO Analyst Tells Donor Ambassadors to Expect Protracted Conflict in Sri Lanka [...] No summary [...] |
2007-01-25 12:30:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL MOPS PTER EAID CE PHUM |
| 07COLOMBO1580 |
SRI LANKA: INCSR PART II 2007-2008 SUBMISSION [...] The following is Embassy Colombo's International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) Part II regarding money laundering and financial crimes, per request in reftel. 2. Begin text: Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is neither an important regional financial center nor a preferred center for money [...] |
2007-11-21 11:34:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | KCRM EFIN KTFN SNAR KMCA CE |
| 07COLOMBO1581 |
SRI LANKA AND MALDIVES: UPDATED CONTACT INFORMATION [...] Contact information for Embassy Sections. a. AMB: Robert O. Blake, Jr. Office: 94-11-249-8640 Cell: 94-77-347-6592 b. DCM: James Moore Office: 94-11-249-8640 Cell: 94-77-770-9571 c. POL: Michael DeTar Office: 94-11-249-876 [...] |
2007-11-23 05:50:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PGOV AMGT CE |
| 07COLOMBO1582 |
SRI LANKA: EMINENT PERSONS FRUSTRATED, DECIDE TO [...] (C) SUMMARY: The members of the International Independent Panel of Eminent Persons assisting the Sri Lankan Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses feel their efforts have been stymied and concluded they can do little more to influence events in a positive way. A letter [...] |
2007-11-23 11:42:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1588 |
MALDIVES: CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSAL TO DISQUALIFY [...] (SBU) On November 24, pro-government members of the Special Majlis (constituent assembly charged with drafting a new constitution) put forward two proposed changes which would effectively bar former Attorney General Hassan Saeed from running in the country's first multi-candidate Presidential [...] |
2007-11-26 11:37:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1601 |
LTTE CHIEF SAYS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: In his annual "Heroes' Day" speech, LTTE supremo Prabhakaran reiterated his litany of charges against the majority Sinhalese community in Sri Lanka. However, Prabhakaran went further than he has before in condemning what he sees as the international community's passivity in the [...] |
2007-11-28 13:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER MOPS PGOV PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1603 |
SRI LANKA: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR UPDATE - NOV 2007 [...] As requested by Ref A, below is an update of the worst forms of child labor information for Sri Lanka. Child Labor Legislation ----------------------- 2. Sri Lanka ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on November 2, 2000, and ILO [...] |
2007-11-29 11:01:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI CE |
| 07COLOMBO1604 |
SRI LANKA: TIGERS RESUME ATTACKS IN COLOMBO [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: A bomb exploded near a clothing store in a crowded shopping mall in Nugegoda, a southern suburb of Colombo, at 5:55 p.m. on November 28. The attack may have been a reprisal for an alleged attack on a bus transporting schoolchildren near the Tamil Tiger de facto capital of Kil [...] |
2007-11-29 12:02:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1616 |
SRI LANKA: ARMY, POLICE ROUND UP TAMILS WHILE [...] (C) SUMMARY: On November 30 - December 3, Sri Lankan security forces conducted random arrests and cordon and search operations, rounding up approximately 2500 Tamils in Colombo and suburbs and perhaps 3500 island-wide. Some of the detainees were released within hours, others were transported [...] |
2007-12-04 13:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1618 |
SRI LANKAN ARMY HOLDS HUMAN RIGHTS SEMINAR FOR [...] Summary: The Sri Lankan Army organized on December 4-7 a three-day seminar on "Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, Disaster Response and Military Civilian Relations" for all of its battalion field commanders in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka (where fighting is heaviest [...] |
2007-12-05 02:31:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PHUM MARR PTER PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO162 |
SUPPORTING A BELEAGUERED TAMIL PRESS [...] (C) Summary: Ambassador and PAO called on beleaguered Tamil dailies "Tinakkural" and Sudar Oli" to demonstrate support for a free press. Ambassador agreed to try to help solve specific problems with their Jaffna editions, in immediate danger of closing due to lack of newsprint and other suppli [...] |
2007-01-26 09:10:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | KPAO PHUM CE |
| 07COLOMBO1627 |
BUSINESS FACILITATION INCENTIVE FUND: SRI LANKA [...] No summary [...] |
2007-12-05 11:54:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | BEXP BTIO ENIV ABUD CE |
| 07COLOMBO1640 |
CONVERSATION WITH PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA ON THE WAY [...] (S) Summary: In a series of short conversations with Ambassador on December 6 during a trip to his home town of Tangalle, President Rajapaksa expressed confidence his government would win the third and final budget vote on December 14, but was less clear on the way forward after that. Rajapa [...] |
2007-12-07 11:32:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | PREL PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1641 |
ISRAELI AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES ISRAELI RELATIONS [...] (C) In an introductory meeting on December 7, Israel's new Ambassador to Sri Lanka Mark Sofer (who is resident in New Delhi) told Ambassador that after presenting his credentials to President Rajapaksa and several days of consultations in Colombo he had noted considerable pessimism about the [...] |
2007-12-07 11:32:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER CE IR IS |
| 07COLOMBO1651 |
IIGEP INFORMS DONORS IT IS LEAVING IN MARCH [...] (SBU) As reported reftel, the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) has decided to end its work in Sri Lanka by March 2008. IIGEP informed the Government of Sri Lanka of this on December 7. Ambassador received the following letter dated December 4 from IIGEP. BEGIN ME [...] |
2007-12-12 09:47:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PHUM MOPS PTER CE |
| 07COLOMBO1652 |
SRI LANKA'S RELATIONS WITH UN DETERIORATING [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: The last month has seen a deterioration in the UN's already shaky relations with Sri Lanka. On November 12, JVP parliamentary floor leader Wimal Weerawansa made a speech to parliament in which he accused UNICEF of supporting the LTTE through contributions of money and vehicles. [...] |
2007-12-12 10:53:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL AORC PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1656 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT STRUGGLES FOR SURVIVAL ON [...] (C) SUMMARY: The third and final reading of the budget on December 14 is shaping up as a battle royal for the government's survival -- and the government is losing ground in the count. On December 12, Sri Lankan Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem and three of his five Members of Parliament [...] |
2007-12-12 12:04:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1661 |
SRI LANKA: 2008 BUDGET WOULD BOOST DEFENSE AND TRANSFERS TO RAJAPAKSA CONSTITUENTS [...] (SBU) Summary and comment: The Rajapaksa government could survive or fall depending on the outcome of a December 14 final vote on its 2008 budget. The proposed budget continues the president's emphasis on high taxes to fund big government and transfers to his primary constituents: civil servan [...] |
2007-12-13 10:55:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN KMCA PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1666 |
MALDIVIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES JOIN FORCES, ENDORSE [...] (C) SUMMARY: Opposition parties and other political groups in Maldives have formed a National Unity Alliance (NUA) and called for a transitional government that would run Maldives from the time the new constitution comes into effect until new officials can be elected. Member parties, includ [...] |
2007-12-14 11:25:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM MV |
| 07COLOMBO1667 |
SRI LANKA: FOREIGN SECRETARY COMPLAINS ABOUT U.S. [...] (C) DCM and Pol Chief were summoned by Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona on December 13 to discuss proceedings at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Kohona expressed the government's objection to the U.S. delegation's statement in support of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbo [...] |
2007-12-14 11:49:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1676 |
MALDIVES: AHMED KHALEEL NEW PERMREP IN NEW YORK [...] On December 13, Embassy received a diplomatic note dated December 10, 2007, announcing the appointment of Ahmed Khaleel as Maldives' Permanent Representative to the United Nations. [begin text] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives presents its compliments to the Emb [...] |
2007-12-18 09:11:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | PREL OVIP PINR UN MV |
| 07COLOMBO1677 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT SCRAPES TOGETHER A FINAL [...] SUMMARY: On December 14, the United People's Freedom Alliance passed its budget with a majority of 47 votes. The Government's victory was not assured until the JVP decided, in the final hours before the vote, to abstain. The decision to abstain, after voting against the budget in the first tw [...] |
2007-12-18 11:04:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO168 |
SRI LANKA: NAVY CLAIMS IT AVERTS TAMIL TIGER [...] (S) Summary: Government of Sri Lanka military sources described to DATT on January 27 an attempted Tamil Tiger (LTTE) attack on the Colombo Port that morning in which the Navy destroyed three suspected "Sea Tiger" vessels, two of them suicide boats, disguised as fishing craft. Local weekend [...] |
2007-01-29 12:40:00 | Embassy Colombo | SECRET | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1680 |
Sri Lanka - DCHA/FFP Monitoring Report on WFP [...] Summary: From November 25 to December 4, 2007 USAID/DCHA Food for Peace Officer (FFP/O) visited Sri Lanka to monitor the UN World Food Program (WFP) Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO), which receives U.S. Title II Emergency Assistance. FFP/O visited multiple sites in the conflict [...] |
2007-12-19 03:55:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID PGOV PHUM PREF PINS CE |
| 07COLOMBO1687 |
MCC DECISION NOT TO RE-SELECT SRI LANKA FOR COMPACT [...] (SBU) Sri Lanka's national focal point for Millennium Challenge Account issues, Secretary of Ministry of Plan Implementation Dhara Wijayatilake, contacted Econoff December 20 to seek clarification regarding the MCC board's December 12 decision regarding Sri Lanka. Wijayatilake had seen a local [...] |
2007-12-20 10:58:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAID KMCA PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1688 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT HOLDS SUCCESSFUL TIP [...] On December 13, the Ministry of Child Development and Women's Empowerment hosted a four-hour roundtable discussion on trafficking in persons (TIP) with key stakeholders in the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL). The goal of the meeting was to share information and best practices, foster more effe [...] |
2007-12-20 11:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | KCRM KWMN PHUM PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1689 |
GOVERNMENT ISSUES PUBLIC STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF [...] Summary: At the urging of the U.S., EU and UN in Sri Lanka, the Government of Sri Lanka issued a public statement on December 15 expressing its "support for, and confidence in, United Nations operations in Sri Lanka" and "the efforts of the international agencies in humanitarian assistance and [...] |
2007-12-20 12:00:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | AORC PREL CE |
| 07COLOMBO1698 |
MINISTER PEIRIS PREVIEWS PRESIDENTIAL INITIATIVE [...] (C) Summary: In a one-on-one meeting with the Ambassador on December 20, Trade Minister GL Peiris (who was one of the Government's former chief negotiators in the 2002-3 talks with the LTTE) previewed a new initiative the President has asked him to draft to begin to redress Tamil grievances. [...] |
2007-12-21 08:42:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO170 |
SRI LANKA: CABINET RESHUFFLE NARROWS MAJORITY FOR [...] (C) SUMMARY: President Mahinda Rajapaksa reshuffled his cabinet on January 28. Joining the government ranks were 18 "dissident" MPs from the opposition United National Party (UNP) and all 6 MPs from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). This gave the government, which previously had 98 seat [...] |
2007-01-29 15:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS ETRD EINV CE |
| 07COLOMBO1707 |
SRI LANKA: IRAN REFINERY OFFER COMPLICATES PICTURE FOR US [...] (SBU) Summary: Iran's recent promise to finance a $750 million expansion of Sri Lanka's sole oil refinery complicates the ambitions of U.S. firms Global Energy and ENGlobal to secure contracts for similar refinery investments. The head of the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation doubts Ira [...] |
2007-12-31 08:33:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EINV ENRG PREL CE IR |
| 07COLOMBO1708 |
SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT UPS WAR RHETORIC, FIGHTING [...] (C) Summary. In late December, Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, Prime Minister, and Army Commander spoke out SIPDIS confidently on the GSL's prospects of defeating the LTTE militarily. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued in several areas in the North. The GSL's statements and actions conf [...] |
2007-12-31 08:45:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO175 |
SRI LANKA: NEW FOREIGN MINISTER TO MAKE INDIA HIS [...] (C) Summary. Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad informed the Ambassador on January 30 that new Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama is traveling this evening to New Delhi for introductory calls on the Government of India (GOI). Prasad suggested the U.S. and India should combine efforts t [...] |
2007-01-30 14:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO176 |
SRI LANKA: HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER VOWS NOT TO TAKE [...] (C) Summary. Ambassador met with Minister of Disaster Relief and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe January 30 to share with him a list of suggested actions the Government could take to address the human rights situation. The deeply frustrated Minister (strictly protect throughout) expressed [...] |
2007-01-30 14:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO181 |
SRI LANKA TO SIGN ACQUISITION AND CROSS SERVICING [...] On December 7, 2006, Ambassador and Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) Chief met with Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa to provide background information (see para 4) on a Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) and a the draft ACSA proposed for signature. See paragra [...] |
2007-01-31 10:27:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | MARR PREL MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO186 |
SRI LANKA: RULING PARTY LURES 8 MORE CROSSOVERS [...] (C) Eight out of nine Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Buddhist monk-based Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) announced on January 31 that they have joined the Government. JHU MP Venerable Omalpe Sobitha Thero resigned to allow the party's Policy Formulator, Champika Ranawaka, to become an MP. R [...] |
2007-01-31 11:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO188 |
SRI LANKA: RULING PARTY LURES 8 MORE CROSSOVERS [...] (C) Eight out of nine Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Buddhist monk-based Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) announced on January 31 that they have joined the Government. JHU MP Venerable Omalpe Sobitha Thero resigned to allow the party's Policy Formulator, Champika Ranawaka, to become an MP. R [...] |
2007-01-31 12:08:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO189 |
SRI LANKA: NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR SAYS TIGERS WILL [...] (C) Summary: Ambassador met Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar on January 31 to discuss the January 28-29 Sri Lanka Development Forum and the ramifications of the Government of Sri Lanka's (GSL) military victories in Vakarai and elsewhere in the east. The Ambassadors shared concerns over sp [...] |
2007-01-31 12:24:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO20 |
SRI LANKA: NEW HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CHAIR - A [...] (C) SUMMARY: President Rajapaksa has named former Sri Lankan Supreme Court justice Anandacoomaraswamy chair of the national Human Rights Commission (HRC), circumventing a constitutional requirement that an independent council appoint the heads of national commissions. Sri Lanka's human right [...] |
2007-01-05 06:30:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM PTER CE |
| 07COLOMBO200 |
IMI - OIL EXPLORATION IN SRI LANKA [...] Sri Lanka is hoping to begin offshore oil prospecting soon. Seismic surveys and airborne gravity surveys have confirmed the possible existence of petroleum resources in Sri Lanka's territorial waters off the northern and western coasts, in the Cauvery basin in the Palk Straits (between Sri Lan [...] |
2007-02-05 09:46:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | KTDB ECON ETRD ENRG CE |
| 07COLOMBO211 |
REQUEST FOR NIH ACCOUNTS TO ACCESS MALDIVES DATA [...] No summary [...] |
2007-02-05 12:14:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | TBIO SENV PREL CE MV |
| 07COLOMBO212 |
SRI LANKA AND MALDIVES - NO TOBACCO-RELATED ACTIVITIES [...] No summary [...] |
2007-02-05 12:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON EAGR ETRD CE MV |
| 07COLOMBO214 |
SRI LANKA: DEFENSE SECRETARY RECKONS TIGER GROUND [...] (C) Summary: Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa offered his interpretation of the government security forces' January victory in Vakarai to Ambassador and DATT on February 5 and explained the government's current military strategy. Gothabaya noted that the security forces encountered pred [...] |
2007-02-05 13:12:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO215 |
SRI LANKA: MONK-BASED JHU INSISTS GSL SHOULD SEEK [...] (SBU) SUMMARY: On February 2, Ambassador met with several members of the Buddhist monk-based Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), including newly appointed environment minister Champika Ranawaka (reftel). JHU representatives said the government should crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) [...] |
2007-02-05 13:15:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PGOV PREL PHUM PTER CE |
| 07COLOMBO221 |
NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO "TENSE" KILINOCHCHI [...] Summary: In a February 5 readout of his February 1-2 visit to Kilinochchi, Norwegian Ambassador Brattskar described the mood in the area as very tense. LTTE spokesman and chief negotiator Tamilselvan complained to Brattskar that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) had gone to war by occupying V [...] |
2007-02-06 08:21:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO227 |
MALDIVES: AMBASSADOR ADVOCATES BOEING AND WINDPOWER SALES [...] (U) SUMMARY: Ambassador Blake advocated for the purchase of Boeing aircraft by a Maldivian airline and the expansion of an upcoming wind power pilot project utilizing US-made wind turbines during his January 16 visit to the Maldives. Either of these sales could significantly boost US exports [...] |
2007-02-06 11:37:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EINV ENRG EAIR ETRD MV |
| 07COLOMBO228 |
SRI LANKA: LIMITED EFFORTS TO ADDRESS INDOOR AIR POLLUTION [...] Summary: Government involvement in Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) issues in Sri Lanka is at an early stage. Although IAP was discussed at the country's first national symposium on air resource management in 2004, limited progress has been made in this area. The Ministry of Environment and Natural [...] |
2007-02-06 11:38:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | ECON SENV ETRD PHUM SOCI EAID CE |
| 07COLOMBO229 |
SRI LANKA: OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS PROGRESS ON [...] (C) SUMMARY: The Ambassador met with Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the major opposition United National Party (UNP), on February 5, soon after 18 UNP parliamentarians joined the government to accept ministerial posts (ref). Wickremesinghe said he would not attempt to expel the "crossovers" f [...] |
2007-02-06 11:48:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PHUM PTER CE |
| 07COLOMBO23 |
NEW ECONOMIC COUNCIL APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT [...] (U) SUMMARY: On December 26, 2006, President Mahinda Rajapaksa chaired the inaugural meeting of Sri Lanka's new Economic Council. The President appointed this council, comprised of the nation's top economic experts to advise the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) on economic affairs, and to engage [...] |
2007-01-08 05:51:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON EFIN ETRD CE |
| 07COLOMBO230 |
SRI LANKA: NEW MEGA-CABINET BOOSTS RAJAPAKSA [...] (C) Summary. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's recent cabinet reshuffle has served to consolidate his and his brothers' control, particularly over the all-important defense portfolio. The new United National Party (UNP) ministers have settled for distinctly secondary ministries, while their de [...] |
2007-02-06 12:43:00 | Embassy Colombo | CONFIDENTIAL | PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE |
| 07COLOMBO231 |
FOREIGN MINISTER OUTLINES INITIAL PRIORITIES AND [...] (SBU) Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama convoked diplomatic heads of mission on February 6 to outline his initial priorities and travel plans. Noting his prior experience as Minister of Industries, then Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion, Bogollagam [...] |
2007-02-06 13:02:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO232 |
FOREIGN MINISTER OUTLINES INITIAL PRIORITIES AND [...] (SBU) Sri Lanka's new Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama convoked diplomatic heads of mission on February 6 to outline his initial priorities and travel plans. Noting his prior experience as Minister of Industries, then Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion, Bogollagama [...] |
2007-02-07 02:46:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | PREL PTER PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO241 |
PRESS CONFERENCE TO PUBLICIZE POSITIVE WORK OF [...] The Ambassador and EU Head of Mission Wilson organized on February 7 a press conference to publicize the positive work that international NGOs are performing in Sri Lanka and condemn the recent campaign to discredit international NGOs. The German Ambassador (and EU President), the U.S. Ambass [...] |
2007-02-08 06:55:00 | Embassy Colombo | UNCLASSIFIED | EAID PREL PGOV CE |
| 07COLOMBO244 |
COUNTRY CLEARANCE GRANTED FOR GEOFF MOYLE, ANURA [...] Post grants country clearance to consultants Geoff Moyle, Anura Widananpathirana, Ed Ely and John Standingford of URS Corporation to travel to Sri Lanka from January 23 to February 23, 2007. The purpose of the trip is to continue due diligence on the Infrastructure and ESA portions of the GOSL' [...] |
2007-02-08 11:30:00 | < | ||