From: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3954304.ece">Aftenposten</a><br>
Date: 16.5.2003

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000824
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL E.O. 12958: 
DECL: 05-16-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, CE, NO, JA, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: Norwegian FM presses Tigers, but no sign of give yet;
Latest re cohabitation stresses 
Refs: Colombo 805, and previous
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of Mission. Reasons: 1.5 (b,d)

1. (C)
SUMMARY: Norwegian FM Petersen met with the Tigers on
May15. Despite his best efforts, the Tigers did not say they
will return to the talks, nor did they commit to attend the
Tokyo donors conference. The Japanese Embassy has confirmed
that it has received no further word from the Tigers re
Tokyo. In other news, the cohabitation situation remains tense
as the president and the PM continue to bicker.  Until these
snarls are cleared up, the GSL will continue to be in a
bind. END SUMMARY.

2. (C)
NORWEGIAN FM PRESSES TIGERS: Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan
Petersen met with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
leader V. Prabhakaran and other key LTTE officials on May
15. GoN Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen and Ambassador
Hans Brattskar also participated in the meeting, which took
place in the town of Kilinochchi in the Tiger-controlled Wanni
area of north-central Sri Lanka. Petersen reportedly used the
meeting to press the LTTE to return to the peace talks with
the Sri Lankan government and to commit to attend the June
donors conference in Tokyo. In response, the Tigers reiterated
their position that unless immediate action was taken to
address the humanitarian situation in the north, they would
not go to Tokyo or resume participation in the peace
talks. Voicing another of their long-standing demands, the
Tigers also said that the GSL must take immediate steps to
reduce the size of its security zones in Jaffna.

3. (C)
JAPANESE MULL OVER TOKYO: In additional news re the peace
process, Koji Yagi, Japanese Embassy poloff, told us May 16
that his government had not received any word from the Tigers
re their attendance at the Tokyo conference. (Note: Per
Reftels, Japanese Special Envoy Akashi had set May 14 as the
deadline for the Tigers to reconsider their previous
statements that they would not attend the Tokyo meeting.) Yagi
said his embassy had heard that the LTTE might be planning to
send Japan a letter requesting a postponement in the Tokyo
conference so the GSL had "time" to meet Tiger
demands. Queried as to what the GoJīs plans were re the
conference at this point, Yagi allowed that the issue was very
problematic for his government. He said the GoJ continued to
review what to do next.

4. (SBU)
TAMIL POLITICIANS MEET THE LTTE: In other news re the peace
track, a group of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) politicians
met with the LTTE leadership in the Wanni on May 13. After the
meeting, a joint LTTE-TNA statement was issued that stressed
the LTTEīs continued support of a negotiated political
settlement of the dispute. Re the peace talks and the Tokyo
conference, Mission has heard that the Tigers used the meeting
with the TNA to reiterate their well-known stance that the GSL
had to meet their demands before they agreed to cooperate.

5. (C)
COHABITATION BICKERING CONTINUES: The latest news re Sri
Lankaīs tense cohabitation situation is that President
Kumaratunga has sent a letter to Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe on May 14 stating that she would not change her
decision re the takeover of the Development Lotteries
Board. (Note: Late last week, per Reftels, the president
announced that she was taking over the lotteries board. The
GSL has refused to implement her decision.)  Further, she
rejected the PMīs allegation that the takeover violated the
Sri Lankan Constitution, asserting that she had acted in full
conformity with the law. In terms of next moves in the tense
situation, the PM is reportedly drafting a response to
Kumaratungaīs latest missive. There are also reports that
President Kumaratunga, in a bid to show she has control of the
agency, is planning to call for an emergency meeting of the
directors of the lotteries board soon.

6. (C) 
COMMENT: Until the snarls over the peace process and
cohabitation are cleared up, the GSL will continue to be in a
serious bind. The LTTE is clearly not in the mood to make
things easy for it in terms of the peace track. In the
meantime, the president is causing the GSL serious problems
with respect to politics in the south. Even when things were
going more smoothly, the GSL was overloaded enough. The weight
of these added problems makes the overall challenge for the
GSL that much larger.  END COMMENT.

7. (U) Minimize considered.

WILLS
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