{"id":2265,"date":"2011-12-01T00:10:05","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T00:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=2265"},"modified":"2011-12-01T00:10:05","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T00:10:05","slug":"wikileaksbalasingham-said-to-be-obsessed-with-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaksbalasingham-said-to-be-obsessed-with-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks:Balasingham said to be &quot;Obsessed&quot; with the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Colombo Telegraph &#8211;<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cDespite the lack of direct contact, the LTTE seems to maintain a deep interest in the U.S. Based on his recent meeting with Balasingham at the September peace talks in Thailand, Milinda Moragoda reported that the Tiger spokesman peppered him with questions on where the U.S. stands with regard to the conflict\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2268\" style=\"width: 265px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/balasingham-and-moragoda-colombotelegraph.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2268\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2268\" title=\"UD\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/balasingham-and-moragoda-colombotelegraph.jpg?w=255\" alt=\"\" width=\"255\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/balasingham-and-moragoda-colombotelegraph.jpg 1306w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/balasingham-and-moragoda-colombotelegraph-255x300.jpg 255w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/balasingham-and-moragoda-colombotelegraph-872x1024.jpg 872w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/balasingham-and-moragoda-colombotelegraph-800x939.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 255px) 100vw, 255px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2268\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Balasingham sniffed, \u2018what for? To buy arms?\u2019<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Colombo Telegraph found the relevant leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable is classified as \u201cSECRET\u201d by the Deputy Chief of Mission W. Lewis Amselem and written by the US Ambassador Ashley Wills on October 1, 2002.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Wills wrote \u201cMoragoda\u2019s impression was that Balasingham was \u2018obsessed\u2019 on the subject. In one conversation, for example, when Moragoda noted that he was going to the U.S. after the conclusion of talks, Balasingham sniffed, \u2018what for? To buy arms?\u2019 Moragoda said he had jokingly replied that he had done that during his last visit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Placing a comment Ambassador Wills wrote \u201cIn comments tending to back up Moragoda\u2019s report, we have heard from other contacts that the LTTE is very worried about the stance of the U.S. towards the group. This concern seems to have spiked in the aftermath of September 11 and continued on from that date. At the heart of the LTTE\u2019s interest seems to be a nagging fear that the U.S. may one day directly confront the LTTE. Many Sri Lankans, including Moragoda, believe that this concern about the U.S. and its reaction is one of the factors driving the LTTE\u2019s continued involvement in the peace process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Below we give\u00a0a part of the secret cable;<\/p>\n<pre>S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001828\n\nSIPDIS\n\nNOFORN\n\nDEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA\/INS, S\/CT\n\nNSC FOR E. MILLARD\n\nLONDON FOR POL\/RIEDEL\n\nE.O. 12958:  DECL:  10-01-12\nTAGS: <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PGOV_0.html\">PGOV<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PTER_0.html\">PTER<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PINS_0.html\">PINS<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PINR_0.html\">PINR<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PREL_0.html\">PREL<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/CE_0.html\">CE<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/LTTE_0.html\">LTTE<\/a>\nSUBJECT:  LTTE Update:  Tigers reportedly have success\nin recruiting; Divisions in the LTTE re peace process?\n\nRefs:  (A) Colombo 1815\n\n-      (B) Colombo 1299, and previous\n\n(U) Classified by W. Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of\nMission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d).\n\n<a id=\"par1\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2002\/10\/02COLOMBO1828.html#par1\">\u00b6<\/a>1.  (C) This update of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam\n(LTTE) activities reviews the following:\n--------------------------------------------- --\nBalasingham said to be \"Obsessed\" with the U.S.\n--------------------------------------------- --\n\n<a id=\"par8\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2002\/10\/02COLOMBO1828.html#par8\">\u00b6<\/a>8.  (C) Despite the lack of direct contact, the LTTE\nseems to maintain a deep interest in the U.S.  Based on\nhis recent meetings with Balasingham at the September\npeace talks in Thailand, Milinda Moragoda reported that\nthe Tiger spokesman peppered him with questions on where\nthe U.S. stands with regard to the conflict.  Moragoda's\nimpression was that Balasingham was \"obsessed\" on the\nsubject.  In one conversation, for example, when\nMoragoda noted that he was going to the U.S. after the\nconclusion of the talks, Balasingham sniffed, \"What for?\nTo buy arms?\"  Moragoda said he had jokingly replied\nthat he had done that during his last visit.\n\n<a id=\"par9\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2002\/10\/02COLOMBO1828.html#par9\">\u00b6<\/a>9.  (C) Comment:  In comments tending to back up\nMoragoda's report, we have heard from other contacts\nthat the LTTE is very worried about the stance of the\nU.S. toward the group.  This concern seems to have\nspiked in the aftermath of September 11 and continued on\nfrom that date.  At the heart of the LTTE's interest\nseems to be a nagging fear that the U.S. may one day\ndirectly confront the LTTE.  Many Sri Lankans, including\nMoragoda, believe that this concern about the U.S. and\nits reaction is one of the factors driving the LTTE's\ncontinued involvement in the peace process.  End\nComment.\nWILLS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,1,27],"tags":[1531,1161,1539,1243,1434,1291,1263],"class_list":["post-2265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-news","category-wikileaks","tag-anton-balasingham","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-ltte-and-the-us-government","tag-milinda-moragoda","tag-norways-role-in-sri-lankas-peace-process","tag-peace-process-sri-lanka","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WikiLeaks:Balasingham said to be &quot;Obsessed&quot; with the U.S. - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaksbalasingham-said-to-be-obsessed-with-the-u-s\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks:Balasingham said to be &quot;Obsessed&quot; 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