VZCZCXRO2481
OO RUEHBI RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0788/01 1521036
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011036Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6170
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0437
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0158
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 7139
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 5244
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3794
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1038
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 3866
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 1099
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2949
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 7730
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 5392
RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0220
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2089
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000788 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS 
MCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT ARRESTS ANOTHER FORMER 
RAJAPAKSA FRIEND 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 263 
 
     ¶B. COLOMBO 451 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Michael DeTar for reasons 1.4(b, d). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  On May 30, 2007, the Terrorism 
Investigation Division (TID) arrested the Chairman of 
Standard Newspapers Ltd. and former Chairman of the Civil 
Aviation Authority, Tiran Alles, on allegations of "aiding 
terrorists."  The arrest occurred as Alles was receiving 
treatment in a private hospital for complications associated 
with diabetes.  Colombo Chief Magistrate Sarojini Kusala set 
Alles' hearing for June 13, but allowed him to stay under 
arrest in the hospital rather than in jail until then.  Alles 
is a close associate of former Foreign Minister Mangala 
Samaraweera and former Deputy Minister of Port Development 
Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, who were sacked by President 
Rajapaksa on February 9, 2007 and have since landed in legal 
troubles of their own.  The administration's critics, 
including Sooriyarachchi, have charged repeatedly that Alles 
paid bribes to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 
under the direction of then-candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa's 
campaign manager, Samaraweera, and Rajapaksa's brother Basil. 
 The contact with the LTTE during the 2005 presidential 
election was allegedly part of an effort to induce the LTTE 
to suppress Tamil votes for Rajapaksa's opponent, Ranil 
Wickremesinghe.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PUBLISHER ARRESTED IN HOSPITAL 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On May 30, 2007, the Terrorism Investigation 
Division (TID) arrested Tiran Alles at the hospital where he 
was receiving treatment for complications associated with 
diabetes.  According to Alles' parents, the arrest came after 
approximately a week of interrogations by the TID regarding 
unspecified allegations that Alles violated the Prevention of 
Terrorism Act (PTA) by aiding the LTTE. 
 
RUMORS OF BRIBES PAID TO THE TIGERS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Rumors have been rampant for months that Alles 
provided large sums of cash to the Tamil Tigers during the 
2005 presidential campaign.  Media outlets have reported that 
Alles gave money to the LTTE at the direction of then-Prime 
Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's campaign manager, Mangala 
Samaraweera, and Rajapaksa's brother Basil (ref A). 
According to these reports, Rajapaksa sought the aid of the 
LTTE to suppress Tamil votes, the vast majority of which 
would likely have been cast for Rajapaksa's opponent, Ranil 
Wickremesinghe. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Alles' friend and former Deputy Minister of Ports, 
Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, has been the most vocal about 
Rajapaksa's alleged involvement in bribing the LTTE.  He has 
continued to hurl these charges even after his arrest on 
March 17, 2007 for misuse of a government vehicle (ref B). 
The hostility between Sooriyarachchi, Samaraweera, Alles and 
Rajapaksa did not break out into the open until shortly 
before President Rajapaksa dismissed Sooriyarachchi and 
Samaraweera from their ministerial posts on February 9, 2007 
(ref A).  Alles has kept a much lower profile than the two 
former ministers, perhaps seeking to avoid what happened to 
Sooriyarachchi. 
 
FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER UNDER PRESSURE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  Samaraweera has also been vocal in his criticism of 
 
COLOMBO 00000788  002 OF 002 
 
 
the President.  The latest attempt to mediate a rapprochement 
between Samaweera and Rajapaksa failed when Samaraweera 
declined the President's offer to rejoin the administration 
as Minister for Irrigation. Samaraweera departed Sri Lanka 
for London shortly thereafter, reportedly returning on May 
¶30.   Also on May 30, almost simultaneously with Alles' 
arrest, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central 
Committee voted to initiate disciplinary action against 
Samaraweera.  However, President Rajapaksa personally stayed 
the order for two weeks to give Samaraweera  time to consider 
rejoining the administration.  Samaraweera apparently now has 
two weeks to mull over his options. 
 
¶6.  (C)  COMMENT: Rumors that Sooriyarachchi possesses a 
video tape implicating Basil Rajapaksa in the LTTE bribery 
scandal have circulated for months.  Some Embassy 
interlocutors claim to have seen parts of it.  With the 
arrest of Tiran Alles, rumors are again swirling that 
Sooriyarachchi will publicly release the video.  However, we 
have yet to see any concrete evidence that the video exists. 
BLAKE