Cablegate: Special Media Reaction: Editorial Reaction To

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 002166

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 LTTE
SUBJECT: Special Media Reaction: Editorial Reaction to
December 19 Statement by the Tokyo Donors Conference Co-
Chairs

1. (U) Summary: The statement by the Tokyo Donors Conference
Co-chairs after their December 19 meeting in Brussels
sparked a considerable amount of editorial comment in the
English and Sinhala press in the week following its December
21 release in Colombo. Editorialists analyzed the statement
amidst continued LTTE violence against Security Forces and
the murder of a senior pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament
Joseph Pararajasingham early Christmas morning. Many
editorialists called upon the Co-chairs to put more force
behind their words. Others lamented the Tigers'
unwillingness to heed the warnings of the international
community. End Summary.

2. (U) Immediately following the release of the December 19
Co-Chairs' statement, government-owned newspapers, including
the English Daily News, Sinhala Dinamina, and Tamil
Thinakkural (12/22) called the statement "widely welcomed"
in similar editorials before going on to chastise the LTTE
for "splitting hairs" over the choice of a venue for peace
talks. In Saturday's Daily News (12/24), however, veteran
journalist and newly appointed media advisor to President
Rajapaksa, Lucien Rajakarunanayake, took a more critical
view of the Co-chairs' statement. He praised the Co-Chairs'
commendation of the Muslim community's restraint despite
provocation, but contended the LTTE had blinded the Co-
chairs in regard to paramilitaries. By the terms of the
Ceasefire agreement, Rajakarunanayake argued, paramilitary
groups "were members of the EPDP [Eelam People's Democratic
Party led by Minister Douglas Devananda], the EPRLF [Eelam
People's Reublican Liberation Front], and PLOTE [People's
Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam]. They surrendered
their arms just one month after the signing of the CFA...
The paramilitary group the LTTE refers to is its own rebel
faction led by Karuna Amman. This is a problem of the LTTE.
It is not a creation of the Government which has repeatedly
said it does not support them nor act in collusion with
them."

3. (U) Another excerpt of Lucien Rajakarunanayake's op-ed in
the government-owned Daily News (12/24) follows: "It's
obvious that the Co-Chairs are having a tough time getting
their act right in the Sri Lankan context... Apart from
passing reference welcoming the `President's aim to develop
a credible political platform in the South to take the peace
process forward,' it has nothing to say on the tremendous
patience shown by the President and his government in the
face of grave provocations by the LTTE." Rajakarunanayake
goes on to analyze the statement in terms of its meaning to
the LTTE, writing, "Wordy warnings mean nothing to the
LTTE... Those who seek to guide Sri Lanka toward a durable
peace demonstrate... they have swallowed the LTTE's
propaganda about paramilitary groups hook, line and sinker.
They are only repeating what the LTTE keeps on saying ad
nauseaum today, to justify their continued violence and
contempt for the CFA."

4. (U) Mainstream independent media, including the Daily
Mirror and its sister Sinhala paper Lankadeepa (12/23),
contended the peace process is the responsibility of Sri
Lankans despite helpful words from the Co-chairs. The Daily
Mirror editor (12/23) noted his own paper's headline on
December 21, "Co-chairs growl at Tigers," contending, "The
Co-chairs have not stopped at warning of grave consequences
if they [the LTTE] persist in defying the peace effort.
They have also urged the government to take immediate steps
to end the activities of paramilitary groups in the
region... Whatever threats and warnings given by the Co-
chairs, this country's salvation lies in our own hands."

5. (U) Sinhala nationalist media in both English and
Sinhala took a more cynical view of the Co-chairs'
statement. The independent Island and its sister paper,
Sinhala Divaina, bannering, "There is a sucker born every
minute," argued: "The Co-chairs told the outfit [LTTE] to
choose between eschewing violence and serious consequences.
As if to slap the much venerated four-some slap-bang on the
face, the LTTE stepped up its violence spree in Jaffna...
How is it that a small terror group in a tiny island has the
courage to fly in the face of their warnings while even
terror Czars like bin Laden are running for dear life? Is
it due to some unknown military capability the LTTE has
acquired? Nay! They are convinced beyond an iota of a
doubt the warnings won't be carried out... And the
international community has taken the terror abhorring Sri
Lankans for a set of suckers. Else, how can Britain
continue to keep LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham in London
and allow him disseminate terror and raise funds, despite a
ban? How can the US allow former President Bill Clinton to
meet LTTE fronts in Sri Lanka? The US may claim he is
representing the UN and the US government has nothing to do
with his visits. But will the US allow him to shake hands
with al Qaeda leaders or sympathizers anywhere in the world?
The Co-chairs stand accused of not doing enough to coerce
the LTTE into desisting from terror, and coming back to the
negotiating table."

6. (U) Independent Tamil and pro-LTTE media declined to
editorialize on the Co-chairs' statement other than
occasional references to the call for the government to take
on paramilitary groups.

7. (SBU) Comment: Government-owned and independent media
unsurprisingly chose different elements of the Co-chairs'
involvement on which to harp. Government-owned media argued
that the Co-chairs had fallen for LTTE propaganda by calling
for the government to disarm paramilitary groups, repeatedly
denying any collusion with anti-LTTE Tamil parties. The
Sinhala nationalist media, often xenophobic, expressed
contempt for what it viewed as another powerless statement
from the international community. Reflecting its often-
repeated argument that hypocritical foreign envoys must give
the Tigers a powerful slap, the Sinhala nationalist press
questioned the commitment of the U.S. and Britain to
fighting, in not so many words, non-Islamic terrorist
groups. Despite these differing viewpoints, however,
editorialist basically expressed concern, either with
sadness or cynicism, that the LTTE have thus far ignored the
Co-chairs' warnings despite the international community's
basic good will. End Comment.

LUNSTEAD

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