![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/prabhakaran1-colombo-telegraph.jpg\" "\\"Prabhakaran1")
<\/a>Ambassador also raised potential USG assistance tracking Prabakharan if he manages to flee Sri Lanka<\/p><\/div>\n
According to an unclassified cable, which Colombo Telegraph found from the Wikileaks archives, US offered their assistance to track LTTE leader Prabakharan. The cable, written on April 15, 2009 recounts details of a meeting between the Secretary Defense Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the US Ambassador in\u00a0Colombo Robert O Blake.<\/p>\n
The Ambassador wrote \u201cIn a meeting with Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Ambassador pressed Rajapkasa to have the military exercise restraint and not enter the safe zone by force. The Defense Secretary again assured Ambassador that the military would not take the safe zone by force \u2018ceasefire or no ceasefire.\u2019 Rajapaksa did outline a strategy in which the Sri Lanka forces would attempt to take territory to get closer to the safe zone so that they could better broadcast messages to civilian population urging them to flee. Rajapaksa indicated that the military was attempting to divide the safe zone in three parts but didn\u2019t specify how it would do so while maintain his pledge not to enter the area forcibly. Rajapkasa stated that had the LTTE released some number of civilians the pressure would have been on the GSL to extend the 48 hour ceasefire. Because LTTE continued operations against the GSL the ceasefire expired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotabhaya scared Sinhala Nationalists<\/strong><\/p>\n Under the subheading \u201cGoatabhaya Repeats Amnesty Offer\u201d the US Ambassador wrote \u201cThe defense Secretary also repeated that the GSL would be willing to offer amnesty to all LTTE fighters, save Prabakharan and Intelligence Chief Pottu Amman. Ambassador asked whether this message had been widely communicated to LTTE fighters at the front. Rajapaksa said that such offers had been quiet and implied that Sinhalese nationalist parties (JHU, NFF and JVP) would react loudly if such offers were publicized too widely. Ambassador noted that without a more public effort to communicate the offer of amnesty, the effectiveness of such a move would be muted. Ambassador also raised potential USG assistance tracking Prabakharan if he manages to flee Sri Lanka.\u201d<\/p>\n Shelling before ceasefire ended<\/strong><\/p>\n Ambassador Blake also wrote \u201cMedia and private reports confirmed that the military has recommenced operations following the end of the 48 hour ceasefire declared by President Rajapaksa on April 12. The UN reports that the shelling started around 9pm on April 14 (before the 48 hour period ended) and Tamil sources indicated hundreds of casualties by mid-day April 15\u201d placing a note Blake further wrote \u201c Such reports from Tamil sources cannot be confirmed and are frequently exaggerated.\u201d To Read another Gota \u2013 Blake meeting visit \u201c WikiLeaks; Gota to provide mercenaries to Afghan war\u201d http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/10\/06\/wikileaks-%E2%80%93-gota-to-provide-mercenaries-to-afghan-war\/<\/a><\/p>\n For further details read the full cable;<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,1,26,27],"tags":[1325,1326,1139,1161,1220,1327,1154,1328,1263,6983],"class_list":["post-1073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-news","category-war-crimes","category-wikileaks","tag-american-assistance-to-sri-lankan-civil-war","tag-ceasefire","tag-democracy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-gotabhaya-rajapaksa","tag-ltte-tamil","tag-robert-o-blake","tag-sinhalese-nationalist-parties","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka","tag-war-crimes"],"yoast_head":"\nO 151056Z APR 09\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9797\r\nINFO AMEMBASSY ATHENS\r\nAMEMBASSY BANGKOK\r\nAMEMBASSY DHAKA\r\nAMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD\r\nAMEMBASSY KATHMANDU\r\nAMEMBASSY LONDON\r\nAMEMBASSY NEW DELHI\r\nAMEMBASSY OSLO\r\nAMEMBASSY TOKYO\r\nAMCONSUL CHENNAI\r\nAMCONSUL MUMBAI\r\nAMCONSUL TORONTO\r\nUSEU BRUSSELS\r\nUSMISSION USUN NEW YORK\r\nUSMISSION GENEVA\r\nHQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI\r\nDIA WASHINGTON DC\r\nNATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC\r\nSECDEF WASHDC\r\nCDRUSARPAC FT SHAFTER HI\/\/APCW\/APOP\/\/\r\nCDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI\/\/J3\/J332\/J52\/\/\r\nUNCLAS COLOMBO 000418\r\n\r\nSENSITIVE\r\n\r\nSTATE FOR SCA (BOUCHER), SCA\/INS AND PRM\r\nSTATE ALSO PASS USAID\r\nAID\/W FOR ANE\/SCA, DCHA\/FFP (DWORKEN, KSHEIN)\r\nAID\/W FOR DCHA\/OFDA (MORRISP, ACONVERY, RTHAYER, RKERR)\r\nATHENS FOR PCARTER\r\nBANGKOK FOR USAID\/DCHA\/OFDA (WBERGER)\r\nKATHMANDU FOR USAID\/DCHA\/OFDA AND POL (SBERRY)\r\nGENEVA FOR RMA (NKYLOH, NHILGERT, MPITOTTI)\r\nUSUN NEW YORK FOR ECOSOC (D MERCADO)\r\nSECDEF FOR OSD - POLICY\r\nPACOM ALSO FOR J-5\r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: N\/A\r\nTAGS: PREF<\/a> MOPS<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> ASEC<\/a> CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 53\r\n\r\nRef: A) Colombo 414 B) Colombo 413 C) Colombo 412 D) Colombo 411\r\n E) Colombo 402 F) Colombo 401 G) Colombo 400 H) Colombo 396 I)\r\nColombo 393 J) Colombo 384 K) Colombo 374 L) Colombo 368 M)\r\nColombo 361\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador pressed Defense Secretary Rajapaksa to\r\nexercise restraint to ensure civilian casualties are minimized in\r\nthe safe zone. Rajapaksa repeated the GSL offer of amnesty to all\r\nLTTE fighters, except LTTE leader Prabakharan and Intelligence Chief\r\nPottu Amman. The government restarted operations at the close of\r\nthe 48 hour ceasefire last night (April 14). Reports indicated\r\nheavy shelling and Tamil sources reported numerous casualties this\r\nmorning. UNSYG CoS Nambiar arrives tonight (April 15) for meetings\r\non April 16-17 to work to end the conflict in \"orderly and peaceful\r\nway.\" ICRC evacuated 514 persons on April 14. WFP is planning a\r\n1000MT food shipment to the safe zone on April 20. End summary.\r\n\r\nAmbassador Presses Defense Secretary\r\nto Exercise Restraint\r\n------------------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (SBU) In a meeting with Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa,\r\nAmbassador pressed Rajapaksa to have the military exercise restraint\r\nand not enter the safe zone by force. The Defense Secretary again\r\nassured Ambassador that the military would not take the safe zone by\r\nforce \"ceasefire or no ceasefire.\" Rajapaksa did outline a strategy\r\nin which the Sri Lanka forces would attempt to take territory to get\r\ncloser to the safe zone so that they could better broadcast messages\r\nto the civilian population urging them to flee. Rajapaksa indicated\r\nthat the military was attempting to divide the safe zone in three\r\nparts but didn't specify how it would do so while maintaining his\r\npledge not to enter the area forcibly. Rajapaksa stated that had\r\nthe LTTE released some number of civilians the pressure would have\r\nbeen on the GSL to extend the 48 hour ceasefire. Because the LTTE\r\ncontinued operations against the GSL the ceasefire expired.\r\n\r\nGotabhaya Repeats Amnesty Offer\r\n-------------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (SBU) The Defense Secretary also repeated that the GSL would be\r\nwilling to offer amnesty to all LTTE fighters, save Prabakharan and\r\nIntelligence Chief Pottu Amman. Ambassador asked whether this\r\nmessage had been widely communicated to LTTE fighters at the front.\r\nRajapaksa said that such offers had been quiet and implied that\r\nSinhalese nationalist parties (JHU, NFF and JVP) would react loudly\r\nif such offers were publicized too widely. Ambassador noted that\r\nwithout a more public effort to communicate the offer of amnesty,\r\nthe effectiveness of such a move would be muted. Ambassador also\r\nraised potential USG assistance tracking Prabakharan if he manages\r\nto flee Sri Lanka.\r\n\r\n48 Hour Ceasefire Ends; Shelling Begins\r\n---------------------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>4. (SBU) Media and private reports confirmed that the military has\r\nrecommenced operations following the end of the 48 hour ceasefire\r\ndeclared by President Rajapaksa on April 12 (Ref B). The UN reports\r\nthat the shelling started around 9pm on April 14 (before the 48 hour\r\nperiod ended) and Tamil sources indicated hundreds of casualties by\r\n\r\nmid-day April 15. (Note: Such reports from Tamil sources cannot be\r\nconfirmed and are frequently exaggerated.)\r\n\r\nNambiar Visit\r\n-------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>5. (SBU) UN ResRep Neil Buhne reported to Ambassador that UNSYG'S\r\nChief of Staff Vijay Nambiar would arrive tonight (April 15) for\r\nmeetings on April 16-17. Ambassador plans to meet Nambiar and Buhne\r\non April 17. Buhne reported that Nambiar, a former deputy Indian\r\nNational Security Advisor, comes to Colombo to explore ways on\r\nending the conflict up north in an \"orderly and peaceful way.\"\r\n\r\nICRC Evacuates 514\r\n------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>6. (SBU) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)\r\nconfirmed they evacuated 514 wounded and family members on April 14.\r\n\r\nFood Shipment Planned for April 20\r\n----------------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>7. (SBU) The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that they will\r\nlikely begin loading a cargo ship with approximately 1,000 MTs of\r\nmixed food commodities. WFP hopes to depart Trincomalee with the\r\nfood on April 20. The GSL has yet to give clearance for medicine to\r\nbe included in the shipment.\r\n\r\nMilitary Reports 239 Arrivals\r\n-----------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>8. (U) The military reports that 239 civilians including 96 children\r\nfled from LTTE-controlled territory on April 14.\r\n\r\nSea Tiger Attack Thwarted\r\n-------------------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>9. (U) The Navy reported they successfully stopped an LTTE sea\r\ninfiltration bid off the coast of Mullaitivu this morning (April\r\n15). According to the reports two LTTE suicide boats launched the\r\nattack. One boat was destroyed and one was captured. The Navy\r\nbelieves that at least 10 LTTE cadres were killed in the clash and\r\nthe captured boat had been fitted with C4 explosives to carry out\r\nthe suicide mission.\r\n\r\nBLAKE<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"