VZCZCXRO6244
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHLM #2139 3630659
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290659Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5041
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 9740
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 6678
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UNCLAS COLOMBO 002139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: UPDATE ON JORDANIAN SHIP GROUNDED OFF 
NORTHERN COAST 
 
REF: COLOMBO 2126 
 
¶1. (U) December 28-29 saw a barrage of media articles on the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boarding a Jordanian 
vessel and forcing the crew to raise anchor, causing the ship 
to be grounded off the coast of Mullaitivu in the north 
(ref).  Papers reported that the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission 
(SLMM) ruled the act a violation of the 2002 Cease-Fire 
Agreement and reiterated the Tigers have no rights to Sri 
Lankan territorial waters.  The media also quoted government 
officials condemning the LTTE act of piracy. 
 
¶2. (U) According to press reports, the Sea Tigers who boarded 
the ship December 23 initially tried to explode the anchor 
with dynamite, but when that attempt failed, armed Sea Tigers 
forced the crew to pull up anchor.  The LTTE then made the 
crew members get into waiting motor boats, injuring several 
of them in the process.  As reported reftel, the LTTE 
released the crew members to the Red Cross and they were 
brought to Colombo.  Government papers called the incident "a 
blatant act of piracy" because the Tigers forcibly entered 
the ship, stole equipment, and evacuated the crew.  A 
December 29 Daily News article said that when a Chinese ship 
was similarly attacked in the Mullaitivu area in 2003 and 23 
people were killed, the SLMM laid the blame on independent 
"criminal elements" though most people assumed the Sea Tigers 
were the guilty party.  In this case, several news articles 
noted, the ship's captain clearly said the Tigers are 
responsible, leaving no doubt the LTTE has committed piracy. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The grounded vessel remains off the coast of 
Mullaitivu with its cargo intact.  Major Rajapaksa of the 
National Security Media Center told emboff in a December 27 
phone conversation that the Sri Lankan Air Force and Sri 
Lankan Navy (SLN) have the ship under constant surveillance, 
but the SLN cannot approach it because the LTTE have 
shore-based guns in the vicinity.  According to DAO's 
sources, the ship may be stuck until the weather changes in 
May. 
BLAKE