From: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3954359.ece">Aftenposten</a>

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11/5/2003
14:04
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001918
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR D, SA, SA/INS, S/CT, DS/DSS/ITA, DS/IP/NEA/SA
DEPT ALSO PLEASE PASS TOPEC NSC FOR E. MILLARD E.O. 12958:
DECL: 11-05-13 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINS, PTER, ASEC, MOPS, ECON, CASC, CE, NO, LTTE - Peace Process, PLO 
SUBJECT: President Affirms Commitment to Negotiated Settlement and Cease-fire
REFS: 
(A) COLOMBO 1916 (B) COLOMBO 1917
(U) CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE´ D´AFFAIRES JAMES F. ENTWISTLE. REASONS 1.5 (b, d).

1. (C)
Summary. President Kumaratunga called in the Charge´ November
5 to clarify her actions. She said she is committed to
maintaining the ceasefire with the LTTE and to reaching a
"negotiated settlement" with the Tigers. She wishes the Prime
Minister success in this regard but felt she had no choice but
to take over the Defense and Interior portfolios after what
she sees as a two-year history of the LTTE being allowed to
"run wild." She told the Charge´ that her imposition of a
state of emergency is a preemptive action to be used in case
the Prime Minister´s supporters take to the streets. The
Charge´ told the President that the U.S. is paying close
attention to the safety and security of American citizens. The
President assured the Charge´ that American citizens should go
about their business and should not change travel plans. In
particular, she said U.S. military cooperation activities
already under way should continue. The President seemed
self-confident and composed but unable to avoid veering into
lengthy historical accounts of the Prime Minister´s alleged
perfidy over the years. This clearly is personal. End Summary.

2. (C)
President Chandrika Bandanaraike Kumaratunga called in the
Charge´ late on November 5. With her foreign affairs advisor
Lakshman Kadirgarmar sitting in, the President told the
Charge´ that she wanted to make sure that Washington got the
"full story" on the actions she had taken to "ensure the
integrity of the nation," especially in light of the "lies"
that are being spread against her.

3. (C)
The President said that she had originally intended to keep
the defense portfolio, as Presidents historically have. PM
Wickremasinghe had "whined so much" about how he needed to put
his own defense minister in to move forward on the peace
process that "I gave it to him and have regretted it ever
since." The President then went through an exhaustive review
of various "failings" by the Prime Minister in his dealings
with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in
particular, according to her, repeated instances in which he
had turned a "blind eye" to the Tigers efforts to rearm and
re-equip, in order to not damage the "peace process." The
President said she had had enough and, after the latest flap
with General Tellefsen, the head of the Scandinavian
monitoring mission, and after two years of "being ignored" by
the PM on defense matters, decided that she had to act to take
back control. The President stressed her commitment to a
"negotiated settlement" ("I like that term better than ´peace
process.´") but said the PM´s efforts had allowed the LTTE to
"run wild" since "they realized that Ranil would allow
anything to keep the peace process going." "I will be gently
firm with the Tigers but they can´t be allowed to dance a jig
whenever they want."

4. (C)
In the same vein, the President said, she had taken over the
Interior Ministry to ensure that the police function (which
historically had resided in Defense, according to her) would
also be used "for the benefit of the nation." It had been
necessary to take back the Mass Communications Ministry in
order to ensure that the "PM´s boys don´t twist things." Asked
why she had taken back the Finance Ministry (which had been
"confirmed" to us shortly before the meeting), President
Kumaratunga looked at the Charge´ blankly and said she had
done no such thing and had never even considered it.

5. (C) 
Turning to the suspension of Parliament, the President said
that was necessary to "let things cool down" for two weeks and
allow people to adjust to the steps she had taken. She
acknowledged that the suspension would delay the budget debate
by a week, but she said that was not a significant
consideration in light of the other "grave matters" facing the
country.

6. (C)
Asked about the state of emergency, the President said this
was a preemptive action so that the military would have the
necessary powers in hand in case the Prime Minister´s party
loyalists tried to take to the streets.  She asked that
Washington be informed that she is not imposing a "state of
siege" and that the "jackboots are not marching down the
street." "I fervently hope I will not have to use any
emergency powers." Rumors to the contrary, she said, no curfew
has been imposed.

7. (C)
The Charge´ told the President that the primary concern in
Washington was whether her actions were intended to scuttle
the peace process at a key, delicate moment. The President
said that nothing could be further from the truth.  The
Charge´ also told the President that the U.S. was following
the situation on the ground very closely in terms of the
security and safety of American citizens. So far, we see no
cause for alarm but we would continue to pay close attention,
especially now that terms like "state of emergency" were in
play. In particular, he noted, the U.S.  by coincidence had a
number of military cooperation activities under way. We
intended to continue with these unless the situation became
unsafe or we were told to stand down. The President said that
safety and security were her highest priorities. She asked
that Washington be informed that the "situation on the
streets" is fine and that there is no reason that Americans
should not continue to go about their business and to travel
to Sri Lanka as planned. The President said she plans to
"address the nation in greater detail" on November 6 and would
underline those points in those remarks. She also noted that,
"as the new Defense Minister," she was very pleased to hear
about ongoing military cooperation activities and that these
should proceed as planned.

8. (C)
In conclusion, the President asked that the 
Charge´ convey the following points to Washington:
--she is well aware of and grateful for the positive role 
the U.S. is playing in trying to end the conflict in Sri 
Lanka. She asked that her warm regards be conveyed to 
President Bush and said she hoped to meet him soon.
--she is fully committed to maintaining the cease-fire 
agreement with the LTTE.
--she has no intention of "chasing out" the Norwegians from 
their facilitation role or the Scandinavian monitors from 
their "important work."
--"My commitment to a negotiated settlement is unwavering."

9. (C) 
Comment. The President appeared self-confident and composed
(as did her pet dog which wandered in and out of the
room). That said, she constantly detoured into long, angry
rants against the Prime Minister for his alleged personal
slights and insults over the years and historical accounts of
the myriad ways in which the PM has "betrayed" the
country. This is clearly a strongly felt personal issue for
her although she seemed sincere when she spoke about how she
is acting in the interests of the country. The President
listened closely as the Charge´ outlined the U.S.  concern for
the peace process and for the welfare of U.S.  citizens. We
will see what she says to the public tomorrow but she is
clearly determined and hunkered down for a long haul. End
Comment.

10. (U) Minimize considered.

ENTWISTLE 
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