O 221154Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9854
INFO USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 
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 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 000454 
 
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 58 
 
REF:   A) Colombo 448  B) Colombo 435  C) Colombo 432  D) Colombo 
425  E) Colombo 418  F) Colombo 414  G) Colombo 413  H) Colombo 412 
I) Colombo 411  J) Colombo 402  K) Colombo 401  L) Colombo 400 and 
previous 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Sri Lankan military continued operations in 
the NFZ area on April 22.  The northern half of the NFZ was 
reportedly under control of the military, and heavy shelling in the 
upper portion of the southern half of the NFZ was reported early in 
the morning of April 22.  Sources inside the NFZ reported 
significant civilian casualties, with virtually no operating medical 
facilities or supplies.  The ICRC ferry Green Ocean left port the 
morning of April 22, planning to land at Vellamullivaykkal, toward 
the southern end of the NFZ this same afternoon to evacuate wounded 
civilians.  Ambassador called the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister to 
urge a halt to military operations to allow time for a UN diplomatic 
option as agreed during the Nambiar visit.  The Minister responded 
that since 92,000 have escaped the safe zone since early April 20, 
the GSL would wait 48 hours to assess the need for a UN diplomatic 
effort.  The UN estimates that as many as 100,000 civilians remain 
in the safe zone.  The FM requested US assistance in providing 
semi-permanent shelter for the new evacuees.  There were reports of 
about a dozen clashes between small groups of LTTE fighters and SLA 
troops in the areas surrounding Vavuniya in the past week, but the 
military has not confirmed these.  End summary. 
 
TWO SENIOR LTTE FIGURES REPORTEDLY CAPTURED 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Ministry of Defense website stated that two senior LTTE 
figures were captured April 22 as they tried to flee the NFZ in the 
company of civilians.  Daya Master, the LTTE media coordinator, 
along with a top interpreter named George, who worked for senior 
rebels, reportedly gave themselves up as the military forces took 
Puthumathalan. 
 
MILITARY CONTROLS NORTHERN PART OF NFZ 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Reports from the military stated that SLG troops have now 
captured the northern part of the NFZ and were continuing actions 
against LTTE in the south.  This military contact said 77,793 
civilians have reached government controlled areas since early April 
20, with 150,232 overall since January.  238 ill and injured 
civilians were transported by the SL Air Force to Anuradhapura 
Hospital, and 20,000 dry rations and 6,000 food packets were air 
lifted to the region.  Another government source later in the 
morning of April 22 said 81,420 civilians had crossed over to 
government controlled areas in the last 72 hours. 
 
AMBASSADOR CALLS FOREIGN MINISTER 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ambassador spoke with Foreign Minister Bogollagama on April 
22 to register USG concern about ongoing military action in the safe 
zone.  Ambassador welcomed the fact that 75,000 civilians had been 
able to escape the safe zone.  Bogollagama said he had just come 
from a meeting with the Defense Secretary who reported the number 
was up 92,000.  Ambassador expressed U.S. regret that despite the 
 
GSL's assurances to UNSYG Chief of Staff Nambiar late last week that 
Sri Lanka would give the UN a diplomatic opportunity to persuade the 
LTTE to release all civilians, the Sri Lankan military decided to 
pursue a military solution.  As a result, many hundreds of civilians 
had died in just the last three days.  Some reports suggested that 
as many as 1,000 had been killed and 2,500 wounded.  Ambassador 
added that the embassy continued to receive disturbing reports of 
heavy weapons use by both sides in the safe zone. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Bogollagama expressed doubt on the higher level of 
casualties and questioned how we knew that all were civilians.  He 
noted that "George," LTTE leader Prabakharan's personal translator, 
had been among those who had left the safe zone.  The government 
looked forward to getting his assessment regarding the number of 
civilians left in the zone.  Ambassador passed on UN estimates that 
100,000 or more remained in the zone and again urged that the 
government cease hostilities and allow a UN diplomatic option.  The 
Foreign Minister said events had overtaken the Nambiar visit and 
that civilians were still coming out in large numbers from the safe 
zone.  Therefore, the government would assess in 48 hours whether 
there was scope for a diplomatic option. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Ambassador urged the government to allow UN and ICRC access 
to all sites where the IDPs are being registered and sheltered to 
ensure maximum transparency.  The Minister responded that the UN and 
ICRC would be allowed access to Omanthai where the registration is 
taking place.  Ambassador noted that ICRC and UN should be allowed 
access from the moment the civilians cross the lagoon near the safe 
zone and are first disarmed and fed by the military adjacent to the 
safe zone.  The Minister insisted that once the IDPs are checked for 
arms, they are bused straight to Omanthai.  He added that 
independent media such as Al-Jazeera were being allowed access to 
Pulmoddai (where IDPs evacuated by sea by the ICRC are taken).  The 
Minister then took the opportunity to ask the USG to provide 
semi-permanent shelter for the tens of thousands of civilians who 
have crossed over.  The Ambassador responded that the US already is 
the largest food donor for the IDPs and that we would be pleased to 
consider shelter and other requests from the UN which is 
coordinating donor responses.  He noted that USAID Director Cohn and 
UN Resident Representative Buhne were in Vavuniya on April 22 to 
make assessments of shelter and other needs. 
 
SHELLING RESUMES IN NFZ 
----------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) A source with contacts inside the NFZ reported shelling 
resumed at about 2 AM the morning of April 22.  This same source 
reported many civilian casualties, but that it was impossible to get 
an accurate count because of heavy firing.  The civilians were all 
pinned down and victims could not be brought to the makeshift field 
hospitals.  The source estimated around 25,000 civilians were still 
left in Valayanmadam, inside the NFZ, and 150,000 total remaining 
civilians in the NFZ.  The civilians would like to escape toward the 
government controlled areas, but could not due to intense firing and 
heavy shelling.  Additionally, he informed us that the source Post 
spoke with directly on April 21 was injured to an unknown degree 
when a shell struck the church in the center of Valayanmadam. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Reports from a doctor inside the NFZ the morning of April 
 
22 told of deteriorating conditions for civilians there.  This 
source said all medical points were now displaced to the southern 
part of the NFZ, mainly in Valayanmadam and Vellamullivaykal, but 
this doctor and his staff were confined to the bunkers and unable to 
treat injured patients.  The doctor saw 600 or more seriously 
wounded in his location on April 21, with over 100 of them dying 
after admission.  He stated at this point many wounded were not 
coming to the medical points as they understood there was almost no 
treatment available.  He reported "cluster munitions," likely air 
bursts, hit the medical facility on April 21, killing Dr. 
Sivamanoharan, a mental health doctor.  Artillery hit a research 
compound on morning of April 22, injuring some of the Catholic 
priests. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The same doctor reported that much of the civilian 
population fled to the south of the NFZ when the current military 
operation began, and that this southern sector had not yet come 
under intense attack.  He said the LTTE was asking civilians to move 
south, but would not confirm if LTTE was using force to compel them. 
 There was continuous heavy weapons fire in the civilian areas in 
and surrounding his current location in Valayanmadam.  Because of 
conditions, he was not able to confirm exact numbers of civilians 
remaining in the NFZ, or of civilian casualties, but he thought 
1,000 to 1,500 killed and 2000 injured was conservative.  He 
believed up to 200,000 remained inside the NFZ.  He expressed the 
need for immediate delivery of a food shipment and evacuation of 
critical medical patients. 
 
MEDICAL EVACUATION FERRY DEPARTS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The ICRC ferry Green Ocean set sail the morning of April 
22 for the NFZ, to evacuate patients at a new landing point at 
Vellamullivakkal.  If this sea operation goes forward without 
problems, the WFP ship will set sail, possibly leaving port the 
morning of April 23.  The WFP ship has 1,030 MTs of dry food rations 
and about 30 MTs of complementary food provided by the NGO ZOA. 
 
NUMBERS OF CIVILIANS REMAINING IN NFZ 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) There were still widely differing opinions on the number 
of civilians remaining inside the NFZ.  In an interview the evening 
of April 21, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne 
told IRIN that the UN's calculations and reports from government 
officials still in the area suggested that there remained at least 
some tens of thousands, and perhaps as many as 100,000 or more 
civilians left in the NFZ. 
 
SHELTERING NEW EVACUEES 
----------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) A separate source reported that by the end of April 21, 
about 100,000 individuals had crossed from the NFZ into government 
controlled areas since early on April 20.  60,000 of these were 
already with the SLA and 40,000 were waiting to be processed. 
Preliminary GSL plans were to house new arrivals from NFZ in UNHCR 
tents in Zone 2 of Manik Farm.  Normal capacity for these tents 
would be 5 persons, but up to twice that could be placed in them, 
 
giving capacity for 100,000. 
 
SCATTERED CLASHES OUTSIDE MAIN CONFLICT 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Several contacts have reported armed clashes in the 
Vavuniya District between GSL forces and small groups of LTTE 
fighters who have infiltrated into the area.  Since April 15 there 
have been 11 armed clashes in a radius of 6 to 15 km outside of 
Vavuniya itself.  The GSL has not released any information about 
these incidents. 
 
BLAKE