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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002166 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/ES, INR/MR, PA 
SCA/INS (CAMP, SIM, GOWER) SCA/PD (SCENSNY, ROGERS, 
PALLADINO); SCA/PAS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KPAO PTER EAID OIIP PREL CE LTTE
SUBJECT:  Special Media Reaction: Editorial Reaction to 
December 19 Statement by the Tokyo Donors Conference Co- 
Chairs 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The statement by the Tokyo Donors Conference 
Co-chairs after their December 19 meeting in Brussels 
sparked a considerable amount of editorial comment in the 
English and Sinhala press in the week following its December 
21 release in Colombo.  Editorialists analyzed the statement 
amidst continued LTTE violence against Security Forces and 
the murder of a senior pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE) Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament 
Joseph Pararajasingham early Christmas morning.  Many 
editorialists called upon the Co-chairs to put more force 
behind their words. Others lamented the Tigers' 
unwillingness to heed the warnings of the international 
community. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Immediately following the release of the December 19 
Co-Chairs' statement, government-owned newspapers, including 
the English Daily News, Sinhala Dinamina, and Tamil 
Thinakkural (12/22) called the statement "widely welcomed" 
in similar editorials before going on to chastise the LTTE 
for "splitting hairs" over the choice of a venue for peace 
talks.  In Saturday's Daily News (12/24), however, veteran 
journalist and newly appointed media advisor to President 
Rajapaksa, Lucien Rajakarunanayake, took a more critical 
view of the Co-chairs' statement.  He praised the Co-Chairs' 
commendation of the Muslim community's restraint despite 
provocation, but contended the LTTE had blinded the Co- 
chairs in regard to paramilitaries.  By the terms of the 
Ceasefire agreement, Rajakarunanayake argued, paramilitary 
groups "were members of the EPDP [Eelam People's Democratic 
Party led by Minister Douglas Devananda], the EPRLF [Eelam 
People's Reublican Liberation Front], and PLOTE [People's 
Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam].  They surrendered 
their arms just one month after the signing of the CFA... 
The paramilitary group the LTTE refers to is its own rebel 
faction led by Karuna Amman.  This is a problem of the LTTE. 
It is not a creation of the Government which has repeatedly 
said it does not support them nor act in collusion with 
them." 
 
¶3. (U) Another excerpt of Lucien Rajakarunanayake's op-ed in 
the government-owned Daily News (12/24) follows: "It's 
obvious that the Co-Chairs are having a tough time getting 
their act right in the Sri Lankan context... Apart from 
passing reference welcoming the `President's aim to develop 
a credible political platform in the South to take the peace 
process forward,' it has nothing to say on the tremendous 
patience shown by the President and his government in the 
face of grave provocations by the LTTE."  Rajakarunanayake 
goes on to analyze the statement in terms of its meaning to 
the LTTE, writing, "Wordy warnings mean nothing to the 
LTTE...  Those who seek to guide Sri Lanka toward a durable 
peace demonstrate... they have swallowed the LTTE's 
propaganda about paramilitary groups hook, line and sinker. 
They are only repeating what the LTTE keeps on saying ad 
nauseaum today, to justify their continued violence and 
contempt for the CFA." 
 
¶4. (U) Mainstream independent media, including the Daily 
Mirror and its sister Sinhala paper Lankadeepa (12/23), 
contended the peace process is the responsibility of Sri 
Lankans despite helpful words from the Co-chairs.  The Daily 
Mirror editor (12/23) noted his own paper's headline on 
December 21, "Co-chairs growl at Tigers," contending, "The 
Co-chairs have not stopped at warning of grave consequences 
if they [the LTTE] persist in defying the peace effort. 
They have also urged the government to take immediate steps 
to end the activities of paramilitary groups in the 
region...  Whatever threats and warnings given by the Co- 
chairs, this country's salvation lies in our own hands." 
 
¶5.   (U) Sinhala nationalist media in both English and 
Sinhala took a more cynical view of the Co-chairs' 
statement.  The independent Island and its sister paper, 
Sinhala Divaina, bannering, "There is a sucker born every 
minute," argued:  "The Co-chairs told the outfit [LTTE] to 
choose between eschewing violence and serious consequences. 
As if to slap the much venerated four-some slap-bang on the 
face, the LTTE stepped up its violence spree in Jaffna... 
How is it that a small terror group in a tiny island has the 
courage to fly in the face of their warnings while even 
terror Czars like bin Laden are running for dear life?  Is 
it due to some unknown military capability the LTTE has 
acquired?  Nay!  They are convinced beyond an iota of a 
doubt the warnings won't be carried out...  And the 
international community has taken the terror abhorring Sri 
Lankans for a set of suckers.  Else, how can Britain 
continue to keep LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham in London 
and allow him disseminate terror and raise funds, despite a 
ban?  How can the US allow former President Bill Clinton to 
meet LTTE fronts in Sri Lanka?  The US may claim he is 
representing the UN and the US government has nothing to do 
with his visits.  But will the US allow him to shake hands 
with al Qaeda leaders or sympathizers anywhere in the world? 
The Co-chairs stand accused of not doing enough to coerce 
the LTTE into desisting from terror, and coming back to the 
negotiating table." 
 
¶6.  (U) Independent Tamil and pro-LTTE media declined to 
editorialize on the Co-chairs' statement other than 
occasional references to the call for the government to take 
on paramilitary groups. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment: Government-owned and independent media 
unsurprisingly chose different elements of the Co-chairs' 
involvement on which to harp.  Government-owned media argued 
that the Co-chairs had fallen for LTTE propaganda by calling 
for the government to disarm paramilitary groups, repeatedly 
denying any collusion with anti-LTTE Tamil parties.  The 
Sinhala nationalist media, often xenophobic, expressed 
contempt for what it viewed as another powerless statement 
from the international community.  Reflecting its often- 
repeated argument that hypocritical foreign envoys must give 
the Tigers a powerful slap, the Sinhala nationalist press 
questioned the commitment of the U.S. and Britain to 
fighting, in not so many words, non-Islamic terrorist 
groups.  Despite these differing viewpoints, however, 
editorialist basically expressed concern, either with 
sadness or cynicism, that the LTTE have thus far ignored the 
Co-chairs' warnings despite the international community's 
basic good will.  End Comment. 
 
 
LUNSTEAD