{"id":249,"date":"2011-09-24T23:01:52","date_gmt":"2011-09-24T23:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=249"},"modified":"2012-05-07T19:47:14","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T19:47:14","slug":"archbishops-office-slams-us-cable-respond-to-colombo-telegraph-revelation-based-on-wikileaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/archbishops-office-slams-us-cable-respond-to-colombo-telegraph-revelation-based-on-wikileaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop\u2019s Office Slams US Cable \u2013  Response to Colombo Telegraph Revelation Based On Wikileaks."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Colombo Telegraph &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Responding to last week\u00a0<em>Colombo Telegraph<\/em> revelation, a Spokesperson from the Archbishop\u2019s office, Rev. Father Benedict Joseph told The Sunday Leader the remarks as \u2018baseless\u2019 and \u2018false\u2019.\u00a0<strong>Colombo Telegraph revealed the story how Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith lobbied the US government against international pressure on accountability for war crimes titled \u201c<\/strong><strong>Mahinda Rajapaksa is a \u201cchristian\u201d \u2013 says\u00a0Archbishop\u201d based on a leaked US embassy cable. We expect a clarification from ambassador Patricia A. Butenis.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>How every it is unclear which remarks are \u2018baseless\u2019 and \u2018false\u2019. We reproduced <em>Sunday Leader <\/em>story below.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_251\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/patricia-butenis-usaid_ci.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-251\" class=\"size-full wp-image-251\" title=\"Patricia Butenis USAID_CI\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/patricia-butenis-usaid_ci.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/patricia-butenis-usaid_ci.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/patricia-butenis-usaid_ci-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-251\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">No smile - must clarify<\/p><\/div>\n<p>the Archbishop office in Colombo has strongly rejected a leaked Wikileaks cable which allegedly reveals how Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith lobbied the US government against international pressure on accountability for war crimes.<br \/>\nThe cable written on October 2, 2009 recounts details of a meeting between the Archbishop and the US Ambassador in Colombo Patricia A. Butenis, where the Archbishop is alleged to have said he believed President Rajapaksa personally was a good man and pushing the government of Sri Lanka too hard on the war crimes accountability issue now could destabilize Sri Lankan democracy and could suffer revolution from the right or a coup by the military.<br \/>\nRejecting the remarks as \u2018baseless\u2019 and \u2018false\u2019 a Spokesperson from the Archbishop\u2019s ofice, Rev. Father Benedict Joseph told The Sunday Leader that this was not the first instance where the Archbishop\u2019s name had been misused and denied the contents of the leaked cable entirely.<br \/>\n\u201cThis is not the first instance when and where the Archbishop\u2019s name has been misused. This is the clear work of some mischievous characters who are trying to jeopardize the good name of the Cardinal,\u201d Father Benedict said.<br \/>\nThe cable classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d by Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis also quotes the Archbishop as allegedly having argued that if something happened to the President there would be \u201cchaos\u201d in Sri Lanka and weakening Rajapaksa could backfire.<br \/>\n\u201cHe noted that while he himself was a Singhalese, he was very sympathetic to the plight of Tamils, who had suffered greatly from pogroms and discrimination by the majority and from the disastrous results of LTTE separatist ideology. \u00a0He explained that the Church had played a key role in brokering talks between the GSL and the LTTE over the years, including the 2002 cease-fire agreement. \u00a0After the war, the church was advocating publicly for the release of IDPs and other controversial positions. \u00a0This had led to criticism from the Buddhist right and even death threats against the archbishop himself. \u00a0This was the opposite of the leading role in reconciliation the archbishop believed Buddhists should have been playing years ago,\u201d the leaked cable alleged.<\/p>\n<p>Related link\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/09\/21\/wikileaks-files-mahinada-rajapaksa-is-a-%E2%80%9Cchristian%E2%80%9D-says-archbishop\/\">http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/09\/21\/wikileaks-files-mahinada-rajapaksa-is-a-%E2%80%9Cchristian%E2%80%9D-says-archbishop\/<\/a><\/p>\n<h1><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,57,1,26,27],"tags":[1144,1134,1171,1185,1172,6983],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-law-and-order","category-news","category-war-crimes","category-wikileaks","tag-dimocracy","tag-human-rights","tag-malcolm-ranjith","tag-patricia-a-butenis","tag-us-embassy-cables","tag-war-crimes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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