O 081156Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9779
INFO AMEMBASSY ATHENS 
AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 
AMEMBASSY DHAKA 
AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 
AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 
AMEMBASSY OSLO 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO 
AMCONSUL CHENNAI 
AMCONSUL MUMBAI 
AMCONSUL TORONTO 
USEU BRUSSELS
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
USMISSION GENEVA 
HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
DIA WASHINGTON DC
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
SECDEF WASHDC
CDRUSARPAC FT SHAFTER HI//APCW/APOP//
CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J3/J332/J52//

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000411 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA (BOUCHER), SCA/INS AND PRM 
STATE ALSO PASS USAID 
AID/W FOR ANE/SCA, DCHA/FFP (DWORKEN, KSHEIN) 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA (MORRISP, ACONVERY, RTHAYER, RKERR) 
ATHENS FOR PCARTER 
BANGKOK FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA (WBERGER) 
KATHMANDU FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA AND POL (SBERRY) 
GENEVA FOR RMA (NKYLOH, NHILGERT, MPITOTTI) 
USUN NEW YORK FOR ECOSOC (D MERCADO) 
SECDEF FOR OSD - POLICY 
PACOM ALSO FOR J-5 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF MOPS PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC CE
SUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 49 
 
Ref:  A) Colombo 402  B) Colombo 401  C) Colombo 400  D) Colombo 396 
 E) Colombo 393  F) Colombo 384  G) Colombo 374  H) Colombo 368  I) 
Colombo 361  J) Colombo 360  K) Colombo 357 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador intervened with Army Commander Fonseka 
to urge an end to heavy shelling of the GSL-designated safe zone on 
April 8.  The Red Cross reported a disappointing result of ICRC 
President Kellenberger's visit to Sri Lanka, including the denial of 
access to IDP screening points and official indications that the GSL 
could try to restrict the role of the Red Cross after military 
hostilities end.  Another Sri Lankan employee of the Red Cross was 
killed in the safe zone.  Norwegian sources report that the LTTE may 
have lost up to a third of its remaining experienced cadres in 
recent fighting, but cast doubt on the reported injuries to LTTE 
political head Nadesan.  UN Special Rapporteur John Holmes published 
an Op-Ed piece in the UK Guardian in which he estimated the number 
of civilians still in the safe zone at 150-000 - 190,000, and 
reiterated his appeal to the LTTE to allow them to leave, to the 
government to stop shelling them, and to the international community 
to act before it is too late.  End Summary. 
 
Heavy Shelling Reported in Safe Zone 
Ambassador Calls Army Commander 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Bishop of Mannar called Ambassador to report heavy 
shelling in the GSL-declared "safe zone."  He could not cite precise 
figures, but noted that one shell had exploded in the immediate 
vicinity of a health center where women and children were waiting to 
receive vaccinations. The Bishop requested an urgent intervention to 
get the shelling to stop. (A reliable NGO source independently told 
us it had been a "bad day in the safe zone, with 283 injured and 
scores more likely to be dead.")  Ambassador immediately called Army 
Commander Fonseka to urge restraint.  Ambassador noted that the 
current fighting is close to the heaviest concentrations of 
civilians.  He asked Fonseka to make sure the GSL kept its promise 
not to fire at or near the safe zone, and not to use heavy weapons. 
Fonseka said that the Army was still two kilometers away from the 
boundary of the safe zone, so he did not think his troops were 
responsible for the shelling.  Ambassador suggested that Fonseka 
call area commanders and tell them not to use heavy weapons, as per 
the GSL commitment. 
 
ICRC President Reports Meager Results of Visit 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador attended a meeting for heads of mission in which 
Jacques De Maio, head of ICRC operations for South Asia, briefed on 
the April 7 visit of President of the International committee of 
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger.  Remarking that this was the 
first visit by an ICRC president to the country in more than ten 
years, DeMaio made it clear the ICRC was disappointed at the meager 
result.  He noted the lack of any public communication about the 
visit by the government.  He said Kellenberger came with the 
understanding he'd see President Rajapaksa, only to find his hosts 
apologizing because the President was leaving shortly for Libya. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The main substantive meeting was with Foreign Minister 
Bogollagama, flanked by a number of officials at the Secretary and 
Additional Secretary level from eleven ministries the ICRC works 
with in Sri Lanka.  Bogollagama expressed appreciation for all the 
work ICRC is doing in the "safe zone" - delivering food and medicine 
and evacuating wounded.  However, the officials present made it 
clear that they saw the rest of the ICRC's mandate, including 
protection work in IDP camps and at registration points, plus its 
wider mission of protecting human rights of IDPs and detainees in 
the country as a whole, as subject to further review.  For example, 
Kellenberger was told that there is no need for ICRC at the Omanthai 
checkpoint, since UNHCR can perform that function.  Further, ICRC 
would not gain access to places in the northern Vanni where those 
who had escaped LTTE-controlled territory were held pending 
availability of room in IDP camps.  They suggested Sri Lanka would 
likely review and recalibrate its relationship with the ICRC after 
the end of military hostilities around the safe zone. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ambassador noted that this would mark a major change in 
the terms of operation of the ICRC in Sri Lanka, and, since the 
ICRC's general protection work was important, represented a 
significant blow to transparency in the country.  Further, 
Ambassador said that the news contradicted the message from the 
Kaelin visit, during which the GSL had undertaken to establish 
benchmarks and timetables to build confidence with donors, the IDPs, 
and the wider Tamil community.  Septel will report in more detail. 
 
Another ICRC Worker Killed 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The ICRC reported that another of its local workers in the 
safe zone had been killed by a shell fragment while going to collect 
water.  The deceased worker is survived by three young children. 
 
Reports: Tigers Suffer Strategic Setbacks 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Norwegian embassy contacts told us that some of their 
sources reported that the LTTE had suffered significant reverses in 
Anandapuram on April 4 and 5,  with perhaps as many as a third of 
its battle-hardened cadres killed or out of action.  Our 
interlocutors doubted Sri Lankan media reports that LTTE political 
wing chief Nadesan had been injured. 
 
Holmes Op-ed 
------------ 
 
¶8. (U) U/SYG Holmes published an op-ed in the Guardian (UK) on April 
8, calling for "decisive action by the government, the LTTE and the 
international community now, before it is too late."  Noting that "a 
bloodbath on the beaches of northern Sri Lanka seems an increasingly 
real possibility," he urged both the LTTE and GSL to agree to a 
"temporary humanitarian lull" to allow aid workers and relief 
supplies to reach 150,000 - 190,000 civilians trapped in the 
conflict zone.  Holmes urged the LTTE to allow civilians to depart 
the zone.  He called on the GSL to keep its commitment not to use 
heavy weapons, to adhere to international standards in its treatment 
of IDPs, and to show flexibility by recognizing that many of the 
civilians in the conflict zone have genuine fears about possible 
mistreatment in the hands of the GSL. 
 
Civilian Casualties and IDP Outflow 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Tamil sources from within the LTTE-controlled area 
reported 24 killed (including 11 children and 3 infants) and 120 
injured on April 7.  The Defense Ministry reported that "Sri Lanka 
Army 58 Division soldiers rescued 42 civilians from the clutches of 
LTTE terrorists in the No Fire Zone" on April 7, including 11 
children, 12 women and 18 men. 
 
BLAKE