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 000054 
 
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
SUBJECT:  Special Media Reaction: Sri Lankan Foreign 
Minister Mangala Samaraweera's Visit to Washington 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala 
Samaraweera's first official visit to Washington D.C. 
January 5 - 8 elicited much attention from the government- 
owned and mainstream independent press.  State-run and 
independent television news programs carried prominent 
footage of the Minister's visit, including a clip of his 
meeting with the Secretary. Most independent Tamil and pro- 
LTTE media downplayed the story, though some criticized the 
Foreign Minister's comments in Washington. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Government-owned newspapers praised the Foreign 
Minister's visit to Washington as fruitful in Friday and 
weekend papers.  In a below-the-fold front page piece, the 
Sunday Observer (1/8) headlined, "U.S. appreciates 
Government restraint," noting Samaraweera's meetings with 
the U.S. Congress, the Energy Secretary, and Customs and 
Border Patrol. All government media highlighted the U.S. 
Congress's expression of commitment to the Sri Lankan peace 
process and an op-ed in the Daily News (1/9) reiterated the 
Sri Lankan administration's concern about possible LTTE 
fundraising in the U.S. The government-owned Daily News 
(1/7) editorialized positively about the United States 
following Samaraweera's meeting with Senator Richard Lugar. 
¶3.  (U) An excerpt of the Daily News editorial titled,  "The 
West must wake-up" follows: 
"The  Government's  efforts  to  resolve  our  conflict   by 
political  means  have  been  substantially  boosted  by   a 
statement  made  by  the Chairman of the US  Senate  Foreign 
Relations  Committee, Senator Richard Lugar, that the  peace 
exercise has the full support of the US Congress. 
This  is  indeed  encouraging news and on this  score  alone 
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera's current visit to  the 
US could be said to be a success. 
A  'yes'  from  the  US Congress for the Government's  peace 
process  should further energize the State's  search  for  a 
Southern consensus and we call on it to proceed towards this 
basis  for  a negotiated solution with unflagging zeal,  now 
that  a  vital segment of democratic opinion in the West  is 
unambiguously siding with it. 
After  all,  the  US is considered as being synonymous  with 
democratic  vibrancy  and  a  'yes'  from  this  citadel  of 
representative governance in the West should be seen by  the 
Lankan State as a strong vote of confidence in it. 
Of  the  Western  states which are with Sri Lanka  in  these 
challenging  times, the US could be said to be  one  of  the 
most  balanced  in  its approach to our conflict.  To  begin 
with,  it is continuing to keep the pressure on the LTTE  by 
keeping it on its list of prohibited terror organizations. 
Unfortunately, the West is yet to speak in one, clear  voice 
on  this question. Despite the LTTE proving that it is still 
committed  to terror, it is continuing to receive tacit  and 
not so tacit support from some sections of the West. 
Perhaps, this duplicity is rooted in the fact that they  are 
yet  to  see  and  experience political terror  in  all  its 
Satanic destructiveness. The US, on the other hand, has seen 
terror  in  all  its heinousness and this accounts  for  its 
unambiguity on LTTE terror."  End excerpt. 
 
¶4. (U) Independent media reported the Foreign Minister's 
visit to the United States less prominently than government 
owned media, but still afforded the visit some attention, 
noting the GoSL's commitment to peace and raising a red flag 
regarding possible LTTE fundraising in the U.S.  The Daily 
Mirror (1/7) led with an AFP story from Washington, "No war 
with Tigers, says Mangala."  On its front page, the Sunday 
Times (1/7) bannered, "Government wants TRO (LTTE-linked 
Tamil Rehabilitation Organization) banned in U.S." and 
reprinted two wire stories on page three, one from Reuters 
titled, "LTTE a brutal terror machine: Mangala.  Condoleezza 
lauds Lankan restraint."  A second article excerpted 
Samaraweera's interview on BBC's World Today with a 
headline, "No promises, Mangala expects US to nudge Tigers 
to peace talks," in which the Foreign Minister emphasized he 
provided the State Department with evidence of LTTE fund 
raising in the U.S.  The anti-government Sunday Leader 
(1/08), in a short page-six story with full color photos of 
U.S. President George W. Bush and Foreign Minister 
Samaraweera, headlined, "Mangala's move to woo Bush," 
followed by a critique of the Foreign Minister's alleged 
hypocrisy for purportedly "following his buddies in the JVP 
[Marxist/Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna] 
headed protests against the United States within the SLFP 
[ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party]," and "laughing at then 
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for meeting with 
American President George Bush." 
 
¶5.   (U) Sinhala nationalist media in both English and 
Sinhala took less note of the Foreign Minister's visit to 
Washington, relegating stories to short, below the fold 
inside placement. 
 
¶6.  (U) Independent Tamil and pro-LTTE media considerably 
downplayed the Foreign Minister's visit to the U.S.  Tamil 
Net, a mouthpiece for the LTTE, ignored the trip.  Pro-LTTE 
daily Sudar Oli (1/6), however, reported the U.S. had 
offered full support to the peace process and blasted the 
Minister's alleged statement to the Secretary naming the 
LTTE "not a liberation organization but a terror machine 
worse than al-Qaeda."  Flagship Tamil daily Virakesari 
(1/7), in a back-page article, reported Samaraweera 
"informed Washington Rajapaksa is trying to get support from 
the Southern parties to form a consensus on the peace 
process." 
 
¶7. (U) The Tamil media also carried photographs of the 
Foreign Minister's meeting with Secretary Rice.  Government- 
owned Tamil daily Thinakaran (1/07) reported, "President 
Mahinda Rajapaksa firm on going ahead with the peace process 
despite provocations.  If the LTTE rejects all calls for 
talks, international pressure is essential - Minister 
Mangala tells in America."  Independent Tamil daily 
Thinakkural (1/07) reported, "Sri Lanka needs international 
support immediately to avert the war - Mangala requested 
Condoleezza Rice."  Tamil media treated Samaraweera's more 
direct comments about the LTTE with less emphasis.  Pro-LTTE 
Tamil daily Sudar Oli (1/07) bannered, "LTTE is not a 
liberation organization but a killer machine even worse than 
Al Qaeda - Mangala Samaraweera to the Washington Times," and 
independent Tamil daily Virakesari (1/07) reported, "LTTE 
worse than Al-Qaeda Mangala tells Washington Times." 
 
¶8. (U) Both state-run and independent television stations 
broadcast several seconds of footage of the Foreign Minister 
meeting Secretary Rice, on different newscasts, and reported 
the visit in a straightforward manner. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment:  Predictably, government-run media played 
up the Foreign Minister's meetings in Washington as more 
newsworthy than did independent and some vernacular media. 
Mainstream independent media emphasized Samaraweera's 
concern about possible LTTE fundraising in the U.S. amidst 
government-owned media's more glorified accounts of the 
visit. The media representing both the extreme Sinhala 
nationalist and pro-LTTE points of view, however, preferred 
-- for their own reasons -- not to give the Rajapakse 
government much credit for the outcome of this visit.   End 
Comment. 
 
 
LUNSTEAD