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 000001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/03/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS KIRF CE LTTE
SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER TO STRESS DEMOCRACY, NEED TO 
CRACK DOWN ON LTTE FINANCING IN VISIT TO WASHINGTON 
 
REF: 2005 COLOMBO 2179 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d). 
 
 ¶1. (C)  Summary.  Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera 
plans to brief Secretary Rice on Sri Lanka's efforts to 
maintain its long democratic tradition as it grapples with 
a bloody, brutal terrorist challenge and to ask for a 
strong effort to ensure the LTTE is not raising funds in 
the U.S.  He described President Rajapakse's late December 
visit to India as a success although the Indians had made 
clear they did not desire a "visible" role in the peace 
process.  The FM confirmed that Norwegian peace envoy 
Solheim is expected in Colombo on January 23 and he 
welcomed a mid-January visit by U/S Burns.  End Summary 
 
Indians Decline "Visible" Peace Process Role 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C)  The Ambassador and DCM (notetaker) called on 
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera at his residence 
December 31 to discuss his upcoming visit to Washington and 
the status of the peace process.  Asked about President 
Rajapakse's just-concluded official visit to India, 
Samaraweera said "it went off well."  The President had 
seemed to hit it off with Indian PM Singh and the two had 
had a long one-on-one session (about which the FM did not 
appear to have been briefed).  Samaraweera said the long 
official statement had included good Indian language 
calling on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to 
respond positively to the government's offer of talks to 
strengthen the cease-fire agreement (CFA).  Asked what had 
transpired during the visit about India's role in the Sri 
Lankan peace process, Samaraweera said the President had 
made clear that a "more active" Indian role would be 
welcome but the Indians had made equally clear that, in 
their view, they could be most useful if their role was not 
too visible.  Samaraweera surmised that this position is 
driven to some extent by internal Indian parliamentary 
politics in that the government depends on support in 
Parliament from Tamil political parties and thus must couch 
its Sri Lanka policy accordingly.  He commented that it was 
clear to him that most Tamils in Tamil Nadu did not have a 
knowledgeable understanding of events in Sri Lanka since 
they are not covered accurately in the biased local 
language press in Tamil Nadu.  Samaraweera mused that the 
GSL needed to mount a public diplomacy campaign in Tamil 
Nadu to get across an accurate picture of the government's 
efforts on the peace process.  He said he might visit Tamil 
Nadu at some point after he gets back from Washington. 
Samaraweera said, to his knowledge, there had been no 
discussion of the long-proposed Defense Agreement during 
Rajapakse's visit to India. 
 
Better Acceptance of Norwegians in the South 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C)  The Foreign Minister confirmed press reports that 
Norwegian peace envoy Eric Solheim is expected back in Sri 
Lanka on January 23.  It is possible that Samaraweera will 
meet up with Solheim (perhaps in Dubai) on his way back 
from the U.S. but that is not confirmed.  Samaraweera 
complained mildly that the Norwegians "use publicity too 
much" when backroom delicacy might be more appropriate but 
agreed with the Ambassador that Solheim's statement earlier 
in the week had been helpful.  Samaraweera also conceded 
that Solheim has been blamed for "failures in the peace 
process which is not fair" but said that much of that has 
stemmed from what is in the South perceived as the weakness 
of the "Norwegian" Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission.  Having a 
non-Norwegian SLMM head would help in that regard. 
 
Need to Hold On To Progress in the South 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C)  Samaraweera asserted that Rajapakse's government 
has moved the peace process in the Sinhalese South further 
than any previous government.  The radical JVP's acceptance 
of CFA talks outside of Sri Lanka is evidence of this.  Now 
the task, the FM continued, is to hold that progress in the 
face of mounting and bloody provocation by the LTTE.  He 
said the LTTE and the GSL are still stuck on the venue for 
CFA talks with the Tigers insisting on Oslo and the GSL on 
Asia, probably Japan.  Samaraweera conceded that the venue 
issue could be seen as "trivial" at a time when violence is 
mounting but said that, if the GSL is seen as conceding on 
the venue issue to the Tigers, the domestic political 
consequences could be significant.  The FM agreed with the 
Ambassador on the needed for careful use of nation-building 
terminology.  "Unitary" is seen by the LTTE as codeword for 
a centralized Sinhalese majority state with no concessions 
for Tamils, even when packaged as "unitary state with 
maximum devolution" as Rajapakse had phrased it during his 
India visit.  "United," on the other hand, is widely 
understood to mean one country but with political space for 
all.  Samaraweera said that in some ways the most baggage- 
free term is "undivided."  He commented that during the 
India visit, an Indian federalism expert had given an 
illuminating briefing on India's federal system. 
 
¶5. (C)  Samaraweera told the Ambassador that all is not 
negative with regard to the LTTE.  During an (unpublicized) 
December 30 visit to Kilinochchi, Tiran Alles, the head of 
the new reconstruction authority (RADA), had held 
encouraging discussions with both the LTTE and with local 
government officials on the reconstruction of schools and 
housing, both for war and tsunami displaced.  Samaraweera 
commented, "If the LTTE were hell-bent on war, they 
wouldn't be talking reconstruction." 
 
Relations with Washington 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C)  Turning to his Washington schedule, Samaraweera 
said that he planned to build on the themes former Foreign 
Minister Kadirgamar had raised with Secretary Rice six 
months ago.  In particular, he plans to underline Sri 
Lanka's impressive, unbroken democratic record since 
independence and point out the challenge of dealing with a 
bloody, ruthless terrorist group through a democratic 
process.  Many countries are struggling to become 
democracies, Samaraweera continued, whereas Sri Lanka is 
trying to keep its democracy in the face of a brutal 
terrorist threat.  The Ambassador commented that the issue 
was one with wide implications for other terrorist 
situations around the world.  Samaraweera said he also 
planned to brief the Secretary on Sri Lanka's efforts to 
crack down on LTTE fundraising around the world and urge 
that everything possible be done to prevent it in the U.S. 
The FM took the Ambassador's point that religious freedom 
issues could well come up, especially on Capitol Hill, and 
said he would be glad to discuss Sri Lanka's record.  He 
noted that anti-conversion legislation "will not pass." 
The Ambassador advised Samaraweera that U/S Burns might 
visit Sri Lanka in mid-January.  The FM said he expected to 
be in Colombo in that timeframe and looked forward to 
meeting the U/S. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (C)  Though a neophyte to diplomacy, the Minister seemed 
well-focused on the Washington visit and ready to engage 
substantively. We expect the main request he will make will 
be for greater emphasis on hindering Tiger fundraising in 
the US--we endorse that request. At a  time when the Tigers 
are showing increasing belligerency, hitting their overseas 
moneyline might be one of the few effective ways to 
influence them.   End Comment 
LUNSTEAD