By Colombo Telegraph –

“The President remarked at lunch before this meeting that India had satellites and was monitoring the ground situation in Sri Lanka. It will now be equally clear to the Sri Lankan government that we are watching, too.” the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and recounts details of meetings the US Embassy official Charge d’Affaires James R. Moore has had with Presidend Rajapaksa and his officials. The cable was written on May 5, 2009 by the Charge d’Affaires James R. Moore.

Charge d’Affaires Moore wrote “On May 4, Charge met with Foreign Minister Bogollagama to discuss reports that Government forces were shelling into the Government-designated ‘safe zone’ even after the President’s April 27 declaration of the end of combat operations. Charge presented two declassified satellite images taken on April 26 and 28 of the civilian ‘no-fire zone’ showing probable artillery impact craters. Referring to widely-circulated but unofficial UN estimates of thousands of civilian deaths and injuries since late January (which have elicited strongly-worded refutations by Government officials), Charge noted that the U.S. is not in position independently to verify numbers of civilian casualties, but that it is clear there have been many. Bogollagama replied (implying the LTTE had shelled its own positions) that the satellite images did not provide enough information to indicate the source of fire.”

“On May 5, President Mahinda Rajapaksa held a meeting of Co-Chair Ambassadors. Charge took the opportunity afterwards to pull aside President Rajapaksa and Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona to share privately satellite images released for this purpose by Department. The President noted he had already seen the images Charge provided to the Foreign Minister the previous day. Charge informed the President and Foreign Secretary that he had been instructed to share these satellite images with the Sri Lankan government. These ‘before and after’ satellite images dated April 27 through May 3 document apparent shelling damage in the “safe zone” even after the April 27 declaration by President Rajapaksa, he noted. Charge stated that we were sharing the satellite images in the hope the shelling would stop.” Moore further wrote.

Placing a comment Charge d’Affaires wrote “At the beginning of the preceding meeting with Co-Chair Ambassadors (septel), the President asked Charge for an assessment of the current situation, noting wryly, “you are probably better informed than I am.” Post considers it possible that individual field commanders or the Army command might have resorted to the use of heavy weapons while protecting the Commander-in-Chief from this information. Rajapaksa has been known to call individual battlefield commanders in the past to ask for frank assessments when he feels out of touch with ground realities. While the senior officials we spoke with concerning the satellite images conceded nothing, our effort still could lead to the President conducting his own inquiries and a possible change of the Sri Lankan Army’s conduct of the battle in progress. The President remarked at lunch before this meeting that India had satellites and was monitoring the ground situation in Sri Lanka. It will now be equally clear to the Sri Lankan government that we are watching, too.”

Read the cable below for further details;

O 051403Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9926
INFO AMEMBASSY ATHENS PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY
AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY
AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY
AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY
AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY
HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000495

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM MOPS PREF PTER CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: EMBASSY SHARES IMAGES OF SAFE ZONE WITH
PRESIDENT

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4
(b & d).

¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY: In a May 5 meeting with President Mahinda
Rajapaksa and Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona, Charge
provided satellite images taken since April 27 of new
shelling damage within the Government-designated "safe zone."
 The President maintained that Government forces have not
been shelling into the "safe zone" since his April 27
statement announcing the end of heavy artillery and aerial
bombing in this area.  In a meeting with Foreign Minister
Bogollagama the previous day, Charge provided other satellite
images and inquired about reports of Government shelling in
the safe zone.  The Foreign Minister insisted that satellite
images did not provide information needed to determine the
source of fire.  End summary.

¶2.  (C)  On May 4, Charge met with Foreign Minister
Bogollagama to discuss reports that Government forces were
shelling into the Government-designated "safe zone" even
after the President's April 27 declaration of the end of
combat operations.  Charge presented two declassified
satellite images taken on April 26 and 28 of the civilian
"no-fire zone" showing probable artillery impact craters.
Referring to widely-circulated but unofficial UN estimates of
thousands of civilian deaths and injuries since late January
(which have elicited strongly-worded refutations by
Government officials), Charge noted that the U.S. is not in
position independently to verify numbers of civilian
casualties, but that it is clear there have been many.
Bogollagama replied (implying the LTTE had shelled its own
positions) that the satellite images did not provide enough
information to indicate the source of fire.

¶3.  (C)  On May 5, President Mahinda Rajapaksa held a meeting
of Co-Chair Ambassadors.  Charge took the opportunity
afterwards to pull aside President Rajapaksa and Foreign
Secretary Palitha Kohona to share privately satellite images
released for this purpose by Department.  The President noted
he had already seen the images Charge provided to the Foreign
Minister the previous day.  Charge informed the President and
Foreign Secretary that he had been instructed to share these
satellite images with the Sri Lankan government. These
"before and after" satellite images dated April 27 through
May 3 document apparent shelling damage in the "safe zone"
even after the April 27 declaration by President Rajapaksa,
he noted.  Charge stated that we were sharing the satellite
images in the hope the shelling would stop.

¶4.  (C) Rajapaksa responded by saying that before government
forces occupied about half of the Government-designated
civilian safe zone, the LTTE did not allow civilians to enter
the southern end of the zone, as the LTTE had established
bases in that area.  The President further asserted there was
no hospital in the area where the LTTE has claimed a hospital
was shelled on May 2. (Charge countered that it was a
makeshift facility.)  Kohona noted (without specifying a
precise time frame) that government forces had indeed bombed
this area before unilaterally declaring it a safe zone
because there were LTTE "Sea Tiger" bases along that strip of
coast.

¶5.  (C) The President then claimed that Government forces
would not shell civilian areas, confiding that the Army has
Deep Penetration Units (Tamil-speaking agents operating in
LTTE-controlled areas) within the safe zone who are
attempting to organize people to breach the LTTE earth berms
and allow civilians to escape.  Rajapaksa stated that
casualty rates among Government forces have gone up because
they are not responding with heavy weapons to outgoing heavy
weapons fire from the LTTE.  He commented that the military
believes the graves documented in the satellite images are
likely for LTTE cadres killed in action.  Kohona added that
there was little reason for the Government continuing to
shell the safe zone, since "such sporadic shelling would not
serve any military objective."  He referred to an article on
the Defense Ministry website alleging that the LTTE had
staged photographs of the damage at the hospital.

¶6.  (C) Charge inquired how the Government currently intended
to pursue the end game of its campaign against the Tigers.
Rajapaksa staed that Government forces will proceed slowly,
wthout proceeding to a final assault, believing tha they
could secure the surrender of the remainingLTTE combatants
within a few weeks. Rajapaksa insisted that the Government
does not plan, however, to give the LTTE any breathing room
to reorganize.

¶7.  (C) COMMENT: At the beginning of the preceding meeting
with Co-Chair Ambassadors (septel), the President asked
Charge for an assessment of the current situation, noting
wryly, "you are probably better informed than I am."  Post
considers it possible that individual field commanders or the
Army command might have resorted to the use of heavy weapons
while protecting the Commander-in-Chief from this
information.  Rajapaksa has been known to call individual
battlefield commanders in the past to ask for frank
assessments when he feels out of touch with ground realities.
 While the senior officials we spoke with concerning the
satellite images conceded nothing, our effort still could
lead to the President conducting his own inquiries and a
possible change of the Sri Lankan Army's conduct of the
battle in progress.  The President remarked at lunch before
this meeting that India had satellites and was monitoring the
ground situation in Sri Lanka.  It will now be equally clear
to the Sri Lankan government that we are watching, too.

MOORE