This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001399 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  08-11-13 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS PREF CE NO FR LTTE
SUBJECT:  Norwegian facilitator set to arrive to work on 
LTTE base issue; Tigers get ready for Paris meeting 
 
Refs:  Colombo 1387, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, 
Charge' d'Affaires. Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim 
is slated to arrive in Sri Lanka on August 12.  One key 
purpose of his visit is to try to convince the Tigers to 
vacate an unauthorized camp they have set up in the 
east.  In other peace process news, the Tigers are 
getting ready for a seminar in Paris scheduled to begin 
August 20.  Solheim is known to have good links with the 
Tigers, but settling the camp issue will be a tough sell 
given the group's hard-line stance on the matter.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
======================== 
Solheim due in Sri Lanka 
======================== 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Norwegian Embassy has confirmed that 
Special Envoy Erik Solheim, a key player on the GoN 
peace facilitation team, is due to arrive in Sri Lanka 
on August 12.  One key purpose of his visit, which is 
slated to last several days, is to try to convince the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization to 
vacate an unauthorized camp it has set up in Trincomalee 
District in the east.  In July, the Sri Lanka Monitoring 
Mission (SLMM) had ruled that the "Wan Ela" camp was an 
encroachment on GSL-controlled areas and thus a 
violation of the February 2002 ceasefire accord.  With 
the LTTE adamantly refusing to vacate the site, the SLMM 
washed its hands of the matter last week and referred it 
to the Norwegian facilitators to resolve, thus setting 
the stage for Solheim's visit.  During his time in Sri 
Lanka, Solheim is tentatively scheduled to travel to the 
LTTE-controlled Vanni region in the north to meet with 
S.P. Thamilchelvam, the group's political chief. 
Solheim has met with Thamilchelvam on many occasions and 
is said to have good rapport with him. 
 
====================== 
More info on LTTE Camp 
====================== 
 
¶3.  (C) Regarding the camp, Mission checked with the 
SLMM office in Trincomalee, which confirmed that as of 
earlier today (August 11) the LTTE was still at the 
site.  SLMM Trincomalee chief Abdel Burkan confirmed 
that his office will continue to run daily patrols in 
the vicinity of the camp to check on the situation.  Per 
earlier remarks he has made to us (See Reftels), Burkan 
said the roughly 15 LTTE inhabitants of the camp 
remained friendly with the monitors.  The camp was 
small, about two soccer fields in size, and very 
ramshackle with some huts, a tent, and a communications 
antenna.  Burkan estimated that the camp could be 
dismantled quickly if the Tigers wanted to do so. 
 
¶4.  (C) Queried on whether he had heard of any other 
LTTE camps encroaching on government areas, Burkan said 
the monitors were examining one LTTE-occupied site which 
seemed to be new.  The site was located one/two 
kilometers away from Wan Ela at a place called Uparu. 
Whether the camp violated the ceasefire accord had not 
yet been determined, he added.  (Note:  The Sri Lankan 
military has told us that it thinks that, in addition to 
Wan Ela, the LTTE may have established at least four 
additional bases in the east in past months.) 
 
 
========================== 
Tigers get ready for Paris 
========================== 
 
¶5.  (C) In other peace process developments, the Tigers 
are getting ready for a seminar in Paris scheduled to 
begin on August 20.  The seminar, which is slated to 
last approximately a week, will focus on 
constitutional/legal issues.  The seminar is also being 
structured to help the LTTE decide on the nature of its 
response to the GSL's recent proposal setting out 
modalities of forming a Tiger-dominated interim 
administration for the the north/east.  Contacts in the 
Tamil community have confirmed that the LTTE's 
delegation will consist of approximately 20 people, 10 
from the group and 10 representing pro-LTTE Tamils who 
live in other countries.  Thamilchelvam will lead the 
delegation.  The following names are also reportedly on 
the delegation list: 
-- Pulithevan (one name only), chief of the LTTE's Peace 
Secretariat 
 
SIPDIS 
 
-- V. Rudrakumar, a pro-LTTE lawyer living in the U.S. 
 
-- Dr. V.T. Thamilmaran, a law lecturer at Colombo 
University with close LTTE links 
 
-- J. Maheswaran, a pro-LTTE Tamil based in Australia 
with significant experience on humanitarian assistance 
issues 
 
¶6.  (SBU) There are reports that Thamilchelvam may meet 
with Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's London-based chief 
negotiator, somewhere in Europe before the Paris meeting 
takes place.  Balasingham, who has serious health 
problems, apparently will not attend the Paris event 
himself.  In the meantime, the pro-LTTE website 
"TamilNet" reported that Thamilchelvam spoke to a rally 
in the Vanni on August 10.  In his wide-ranging remarks, 
Thamilchelvam made clear that the group was intent on 
preparing a response to the GSL's north/east proposal, 
indicating that the peace talks could resume if the 
group's (as yet unidentified) counter-proposals were 
accepted.  He stated, in part: 
 
"We would be ready to resume negotiations if the Sinhala 
nation accepts our proposal for the interim 
administration and follows the path of peace.  We will 
prepare and submit a proposal for an interim 
administration that would essentially reflect the 
aspirations and expectations of our 
people...International legal experts and senior 
academics will discuss the proposal before it is given 
in final form.  An interim administration is 
indispensable to mend the war-shattered lives of our 
people." 
 
Aside from these basically upbeat remarks, Thamilchelvam 
also made semi-threatening comments to the effect that 
Tamils should be allowed to choose their own "destiny" 
if the LTTE's counter-proposals were rejected by the 
GSL.  He also took the opportunity to get his licks in 
against two long-standing targets of Tiger vituperation, 
President Kumaratunga and the Sri Lankan military. 
Dredging up the history of past military campaigns, 
Thamilchelvam basically accused the president and the 
army of being warmongers and anti-Tamil in intent. 
 
======= 
COMMENT 
======= 
 
¶7.  (C) Of all of the Norwegian facilitators, Solheim is 
known to have the best links with the Tigers.  He has 
dealt with them for years and knows the topmost LTTE 
leaders as well as any outsider.  Even with these 
advantages, settling the camp issue will be a tough sell 
for Solheim.  The group has taken an increasingly hard- 
line stance on the issue.  Solheim will have to use all 
of his many wiles to convince them that their stance is 
self-defeating.  As for Paris, the Tigers seem to want 
to use the meeting in a genuine way to review legal 
issues.  Thamilchelvam, for one, appears to be going out 
of his way to flag that the Tigers are taking the 
government's proposal very seriously.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
ENTWISTLE