From: <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/spesial/wikileaksdokumenter/article3954388.ece">Aftenposten</a>

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6/17/2004 10:51
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001013
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT
FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD
PLEASE PASS TOPEC
E.O. 12958:
DECL: 06-17-14 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, CE, NO, IN, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: Talks about Talks in Stasis while Norwegians Ponder Next Moves
Refs: (A) Colombo 983, and previous
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).

1. (C)
SUMMARY: The LTTE showed no flexibility on negotiation issues
during Norwegian Ambassador´s June 16 visit to
Kilinochchi. Both sides have rejected a Norwegian compromise
formulation on the negotiating agenda.  The situation in the
East is somewhat improved but remains troubled. The LTTE has
postponed its European meeting. The Tigers told NGOs and UN
agencies they want to coordinate assistance better. Norwegians
will hold discussions in India this week.  Norwegians will
decide optimum time to resume their shuttle efforts.  END
SUMMARY.

No Progress for Norwegians in Kilinochchi 
----------------------------------------

2. (C)
Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar briefed fellow Co-Chair
Ambassadors June 17 on his previous day´s discussions with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi and on
Norwegian peace efforts in general. Brattskar said he had a 90
minute meeting with LTTE political leader S.P. Thamilchelvam.
Briefing Thamilchelvam on the Brussels meeting, Brattskar told
him that the Co-Chairs were afraid of drift in the peace
process and were concerned about the situation in the
East. The positive side was that there was great interest in
Sri Lanka at a high political level; the negative side was the
impatience at lack of progress.  Thamilchelvam had spent
considerable time discussing the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA),
which he claimed the Government was violating in the East by
supporting Karuna´s forces.  Thamilchelvam repeated the
familiar LTTE plaint that the Tamil people have benefited from
peace for the last two years but have gained little else.

3. (C)
Brattskar said he responded that both sides were responsible
for supporting the CFA. Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)
head Trond Furuhovde would travel to Kilinochchi next week for
discussions on this issue with the LTTE. (Brattskar commented
that the situation in the East was better than a few weeks
ago, but was still unstable.) In the meantime, the LTTE had
postponed its planned leadership trip to Geneva next week for
meetings with Tamil expatriate legal experts.  With no date
yet set for talks, the LTTE saw no reason to hold the
discussions at this time.

4. (C)
Ambassador asked Brattskar where the back and forth on the
talks stood, and described his own talk last Friday with
President Kumaratunga and her description of the situation
(see Reftel). Brattskar said that both sides want Norway to
continue its shuttle diplomacy, but that right now nothing is
happening. The LTTE´s "seemingly inflexible position" of
discussions only on its Interim Self Governing Authority
(ISGA) proposal had not allowed them to accept a Norwegian
proposal that the two sides sit down without any agenda at
all. At the request of both sides, the Norwegians had tried to
come up with a proposal for an agenda bridging the positions
of both sides, but neither had agreed to their suggestion. At
the moment, therefore, the peace talks were in stasis. The
Norwegians would need to decide when to come up with a new
proposal.  Brattskar noted that some people thought there
would be no movement until after the July 10 Provincial
Council elections. (Comment: We do not see a connection.) At
any rate, it was unlikely there could be any movement until
President Kumaratunga returned from her private visit to the
UK.

5. (C)
Brattskar said that the deadlock came down to the same old
issues: lack of trust (especially by the LTTE), and a feeling
by the LTTE that agreement to discuss final issues before an
ISGA was agreed upon and implemented would mean there would
never be an ISGA.

LTTE Meets NGOs and UN Agencies 
-------------------------------

6. (C)
The LTTE had invited major NGOs and UN agencies to Kilinochchi
June 15 to meet with the Tiger´s Planning and Development
Secretariat (PDS). According to participants in the meeting,
the LTTE predictably asked for direct funding, and were
predictably turned down.  The Tigers described the PDS as a
"focal point," not as a proposed implementation agency. The
Tigers wanted the NGOs to "coordinate" with the PDS -- the
NGOs said coordination was fine as long as it did not mean
control. The Tigers said that they did not want any type of
joint development work with the Central Government, but that
they had no objection to projects being implemented through
the North East Provincial Council, as is currently being
done. The repeated their opposition, however, to a revival of
the North East Reconstruction Fund (NERF) or a "NERF-like"
structure, which they see as a tactic to delay or permanently
replace an ISGA.

Norwegians to Delhi 
-------------------

7. (U)
Brattskar himself is leaving afternoon of June 17 to meet
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Helgesen in New Delhi for
talks with the new Indian government.  Brattskar said that
reports in both Indian and Sri Lankan press that current High
Commissioner to Sri Lanka Nirupam Sen would leave to become
Perm Rep in New York, and that Sen would be replaced by MFA
Additional Secretary for Administration Mrs. Nirupama Menon
Rao SIPDIS were true.

COMMENT 
-------

8. (C)
The Norwegians are clearly feeling a bit frustrated. Brattskar
expressed (unusually) some impatience with the LTTE and
conceded that it was not unreasonable for the GSL to expect
some give from the Tigers, who so far have not budged an inch
from their position on the negotiating agenda. The Norwegians
seem to feel now that it is best to take a breather before
getting back into the shuttle business. In the meantime,
Ambassador is planning an on-the-record session with major
newspaper editors next week to push the message of Brussels:
all sides need to move on peace or risk losing donor attention
and funding. END COMMENT.

9. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD
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