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Viewing cable 03COLOMBO1845, President demands removal of chief monitor,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
03COLOMBO1845 2003-10-23 14:07 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Colombo
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 02 COLOMBO 001845 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, EUR/NB; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  10-24-13 
TAGS: PGOV PTER MOPS PHSA CE NO LTTE
SUBJECT:  President demands removal of chief monitor, 
but it is not clear how far she wants to push matter 
 
Refs:  (A) SA/INS-Colombo telecon 10/23/03 
 
-      (B) FBIS Reston Va DTG 231407Z Oct 03 
-      (C) Colombo 1826, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Charge' d'Affaires James F. Entwistle. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  President Kumaratunga has requested 
that Norway remove the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission 
(SLMM) chief.  In making this demand, the president 
complained that the SLMM had lost "objectivity."  While 
the GoN reviews next steps, the SLMM is continuing its 
operations.  The GSL is balking at removing the SLMM 
chief and we are not sure how far Kumaratunga wants to 
push the matter.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) PRESIDENT LASHES OUT:  President Kumaratunga 
has requested that Norway remove Sri Lanka Monitoring 
Mission (SLMM) chief Tryggve Teleffsen.  The president 
made this demand in a letter that was sent to the 
Norwegian government.  The full text of the letter was 
not made public, but some of its contents have been 
leaked to the press.  In making her demand, the 
president was cited as having "serious doubts" about 
Teleffsen's and his organization's impartiality and 
objectivity.  The president went on to assert that the 
continuation of the ceasefire "within acceptable levels 
of national security requires effective, objective and 
impartial monitoring of the truce," but that Teleffsen's 
conduct, when compared to his predecessor, had been 
"quite unsatisfactory."  Teleffsen, a retired Norwegian 
major general, took over as chief monitor in March, 
replacing Trond Furuhovde, another former Norwegian 
military official. 
 
3.  (C) In her letter, the president also specifically 
complained that the SLMM had recently acted to prevent 
the navy from intercepting a reported Tiger arms 
resupply ship operating off the northeast coast (see 
Ref C).  The president directly accused the SLMM of 
either deliberately trying to tip off the Tigers via a 
phone call so that their boat could escape, or acting in 
a highly negligent manner.  Per Ref C, Mission was told 
by the Defense Minister that the SLMM's actions in this 
matter were inadvertent (see more below). 
 
4.  (C) GSL/NORWEGIAN RESPONSE:  The Sri Lankan 
government is balking at supporting the president's 
demand.  Locked in a tense cohabitation situation with 
the president and her party, unnamed members of the 
United National Party (UNP) governing coalition have 
been quoted in the press as warning the president that 
her efforts to remove Tellefsen are putting the peace 
process at risk. 
 
5.  (C) Mission's understanding is that the Norwegian 
government is reviewing next steps, and has not yet 
responded to the president's letter.  Charge' called 
Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar early October 24. 
Brattskar would not comment on the phone, but invited 
Charge over to discuss the matter later in the day. 
Timo Ekdahl, the SLMM's acting spokesperson and chief of 
operations, told polchief that the SLMM was waiting for 
the Norwegian government to decide what to do in 
response to the president's demand.  As far as the SLMM 
was concerned, he added, it was "business as usual," 
however, with no changes in personnel for the group or 
adjustment in its operations at this time. 
 
6.  (C) CONVERSATION WITH TELLEFSEN:  At a recent 
function, the Ambassador briefly spoke to Tellefsen 
about the October 16 incident off the northeast coast. 
(The conversation took place before the demand for his 
ouster).  Confirming what we were told by the Defense 
Minister (see Ref C), Tellefsen admitted that his office 
had made a mistake by contacting the Tigers and asking 
them about the report that one of their ships was 
operating off the northeast coast.  There was no 
intention to tip off the Tigers, he underscored.  That 
said, Tellefsen said the matter had been badly handled 
and that the SLMM duty officer had failed to brief him 
on the matter in time. 
 
7.  (C) COMMENT:  We are not sure how far President 
Kumaratunga wants to push this matter.  She has a 
propensity for making huge issues of matters and then 
dropping them.  Given her track record, it is very 
possible that she is simply trying to score points with 
her political base, which is significantly more 
skeptical toward the peace process than the general 
public (and happens to be gathering today in Colombo for 
a big rally).  If the president presses this matter, it 
will become a real cohabitation donnybrook, however, 
with the president pitted against the prime minister 
over which of them has power over foreign policy.  The 
president legally does, but the prime minister has 
effective day-to-day control and would be loath to give 
into her on this issue.  At the same time, disruptions 
in the SLMM's operations would be highly problematic for 
the ceasefire and the larger peace process, especially 
in light of the likely delivery of the LTTE 
counterproposals in a week or so.  There is no doubt 
that it would be best for all concerned if the president 
backs down and soon.  END COMMENT. 
 
8.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
ENTWISTLE