{"id":34558,"date":"2012-03-17T00:04:57","date_gmt":"2012-03-17T00:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=34558"},"modified":"2012-06-04T13:03:34","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T13:03:34","slug":"wikileaks-how-can-the-un-consider-having-contact-with-terrorist-mr-to-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-how-can-the-un-consider-having-contact-with-terrorist-mr-to-un\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: How Can The UN Consider Having Contact With Terrorists? MR To UN"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe President voiced strong opposition to a possible UN role in negotiating a humanitarian pause or a surrender by the LTTE, asking, “how can the UN consider having contact with a terrorist organization?” He categorically ruled out the possibility of the UN entering into negotiations directly with Prabhakaran.\u201d The US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UNSYG Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cNambiar replied that an envoy’s role would be limited to achieving the specific humanitarian objective of persuading the LTTE to allow trapped civilians to leave the safe zone and such an effort would be fully coordinated with the government. The President insisted that there was no guarantee that the LTTE would release civilians and that there were clear indications that the LTTE would not cooperate in a release.\u201d the Embassy updated the US Secretary of State.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Colombo Telegraph<\/a>\u00a0found the related leaked cable from the\u00a0WikiLeaks<\/a>\u00a0database dated April 17,2009.. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and written by the Ambassador Robert O. Blake<\/p>\n

Extracts from the cable;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe April 16-17 visit to Sri Lanka by UNSYG Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar yielded mixed results. After a one-on-one breakfast meeting with President Rajapaksa on April 17, Nambiar reported that Rajapaksa had left only a slim opening for the UN to pursue the release of civilians by the LTTE as part of the ICRC’s regular visits to the safe zone to evacuate wounded. In a subsequent lunch hosted by the Foreign Minister for Nambiar attended by Ambassador, the Foreign Ministry clarified that the GSL is prepared to allow a woring-level UN team to go in to the safe zone with th ICRC to explore the possibilities of the LTTE alowing the UN and ICRC to evacuate civilians by ea. He said that if there was any positive response from the LTTE and some civilians were allowed to leave, the GSL \u2018would not rule out\u2019 the possibility of a future higher-level UN effort to get larger numbers of civilians out. Both the President and Foreign Minister refused UN, US, EU and Indian suggestions of a humanitarian pause now, arguing that such a pause at this stage would give the LTTE a chance to re-group and forcibly recruit and train more civilians. The Foreign Minister said the GSL would allow short pauses for the delivery of food and medicine, evacuation of wounded, and the working-level UN visit. Ambassador underscored to the Minister the potential serious consequences internationally of pursuing a military option without giving diplomacy a chance. UN Resident Representative Buhne told Ambassador the UN will send a UN security advance team to the safe zone as soon as possible with a view to sending in the working-level team as soon as possible thereafter. COMMENT: Although this outcome was not all that we hoped for, it nonetheless leaves an opening for a possible higher-level UN effort, provided the LTTE cooperates in releasing to the working level UN team at least some civilians as a sign of good faith. In the meantime, the international community must continue to pressure the GSL to agree to a pause and to cease military actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbassador warned the Minister that if the government pursued a military option without first allowing high-level diplomacy a chance, Sri Lanka could expect escalating international criticism and actions to demonstrate the international community’s concern. The Ambassador said such actions could include suspension of aid to Sri Lanka, closer scrutiny of IMF lending, possible war crimes investigations, and perhaps other actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the cable below for further details;<\/p>\n

VZCZCXRO2918\r\nOO RUEHBI\r\nDE RUEHLM #0431\/01 1071129\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 171129Z APR 09 ZDK CTG RUEHSD #\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a00095 1200207\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9816\r\nINFO RUEHBK\/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1566\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 8558\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 6794\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 4885\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 2921\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 4846\r\nRUEHPG\/AMEMBASSY PRAGUE PRIORITY 0054\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3951\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 9199\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 6512\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 1053\r\nRUCNDT\/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1098\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3423\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEKJCS\/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY\r\nRHHMUNA\/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY<\/pre>\n
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 COLOMBO 000431 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nSTATE FOR SCA\/INS AND PRM\r\nSTATE ALSO PASS USAID FOR AID\/W AND ANE\/SCA\r\nUSAID ALSO FOR DCHA\/FFP (DWORKEN), DCHA\/OFDA\r\n(CONVERY\/THAYER\/KERR)\r\nBANGKOK FOR USAID\/DCHA\/OFDA (WBERGER)\r\nKATHMANDU FOR USAID\/DCHA\/AFDA MROGERS AND POL (ESEN)\r\nGENEVA FOR NKYLOH\r\nUSUN NEW YORK FOR ECOSOC (DMERCADO)\r\nSECDEF FOR OSD - POLICY\r\nPACOM ALSO FOR J-5\r\nPRAGUE FOR A\/S BOUCHER \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 04\/17\/2019\r\nTAGS: PREL<\/a> PREF<\/a> PHUM<\/a> MOPS<\/a> EAID<\/a> UNGA<\/a> CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: VISIT BY UNSYG CHIEF OF STAFF NAMBIAR\r\nYIELDS MIXED RESULTS \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000431  001.3 OF 005 \r\n\r\nClassified By: Ambassador Robert Blake for reasons 1.4 (b and d) \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  The April 16-17 visit to Sri Lanka by\r\nUNSYG Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar yielded mixed results.\r\nAfter a one-on-one breakfast meeting with President Rajapaksa\r\non April 17, Nambiar reported that Rajapaksa had left only a\r\nslim opening for the UN to pursue the release of civilians by\r\nthe LTTE as part of the ICRC's regular visits to the safe\r\nzone to evacuate wounded.  In a subsequent lunch hosted by\r\nthe Foreign Minister for Nambiar attended by Ambassador, the\r\nForeign Ministry clarified that the GSL is prepared to allow\r\na woring-level UN team to go in to the safe zone with th\r\nICRC to explore the possibilities of the LTTE alowing the UN\r\nand ICRC to evacuate civilians by ea.  He said that if there\r\nwas any positive response from the LTTE and some civilians\r\nwere allowed to leave, the GSL \"would not rule out\" the\r\npossibility of a future higher-level UN effort to get larger\r\nnumbers of civilians out.  Both the President and Foreign\r\nMinister refused UN, US, EU and Indian suggestions of a\r\nhumanitarian pause now, arguing that such a pause at this\r\nstage would give the LTTE a chance to re-group and forcibly\r\nrecruit and train more civilians.  The Foreign Minister said\r\nthe GSL would allow short pauses for the delivery of food and\r\nmedicine, evacuation of wounded, and the working-level UN\r\nvisit.   Ambassador underscored to the Minister the potential\r\nserious consequences internationally of pursuing a military\r\noption without giving diplomacy a chance.  UN Resident\r\nRepresentative Buhne told Ambassador the UN will send a UN\r\nsecurity advance team to the safe zone as soon as possible\r\nwith a view to sending in the working-level team as soon as\r\npossible thereafter.  COMMENT:  Although this outcome was not\r\nall that we hoped for, it nonetheless leaves an opening for a\r\npossible higher-level UN effort, provided the LTTE cooperates\r\nin releasing to the working level UN team at least some\r\ncivilians as a sign of good faith.  In the meantime, the\r\ninternational community must continue to pressure the GSL to\r\nagree to a pause and to cease military actions.  End Summary. \r\n\r\nMeeting with Defense Secretary\r\n------------------------------ \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>2.  (C) UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne briefed\r\nCo-Chair Ambassadors April 17 on UNSYG Chief of Staff Vijay\r\nNambiar's meeting the previous day with Defense Secretary\r\nGothabaya Rajapaksa.  Gothabaya said he opposed a\r\nhumanitarian pause on the grounds that the LTTE had allowed\r\nvirtually no civilians to leave the safe zone during the\r\n48-hour pause earlier in the week.  He indicated that\r\nmilitary forces are now preparing to enter the safe zone in\r\nan effort to separate LTTE cadres from civilians.  He\r\ninsisted that military actions would be conducted with\r\nprecision to minimize civilian casualties.  Gothabaya\r\nconsidered that the LTTE had been severely weakened and were\r\nleft with only approximately 100 hard core cadres in the safe\r\nzone.  (Comment: we believe this underestimates LTTE\r\nstrength.  Army Commander Fonseka told Ambassador and DATT\r\nlast week that the LTTE still had 600-700 hard core fighters\r\nand 300 Sea Tigers.  Further, it seems unlikely that only 100\r\ncadres would be in a position to prevent the departure of\r\ntens of thousands of civilians who want to leave while \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000431  002.4 OF 005 \r\n\r\ncontinuing to mount stiff opposition to the Army's attempts\r\nto penetrate the safe zone.) \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>3.  (C) Nambiar then joined the Co-Chair Ambassadors after\r\ncoming directly from a one-on-one breakfast meeting with\r\nPresident Rajapaksa.  He reported that the President strongly\r\nopposed any extension of the humanitarian pause.  He insisted\r\nthat any pause would only give the LTTE an opportunity to\r\nregroup and rearm.  Nambiar countered that a military\r\noperation that produced large civilian casualties would be a\r\npublic relations disaster for the government and play\r\ndirectly into the hands of the LTTE.  The President replied\r\nthat he was fully aware of the importance of preventing\r\ncivilian casualties, but was simply unwilling to give the\r\nLTTE a new lease on life, adding \"we have the LTTE where we\r\nwant them.\"  He acknowledged that Tamils must be part of a\r\nfuture political process and for this reason the government\r\nwould make every effort to minimize civilian casualties.  The\r\nPresident claimed that the attacks launched on April 16\r\noccurred outside the safe zone. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>4.  (C) The President voiced strong opposition to a possible\r\nUN role in negotiating a humanitarian pause or a surrender by\r\nthe LTTE, asking, \"how can the UN consider having contact\r\nwith a terrorist organization?\"  He categorically ruled out\r\nthe possibility of the UN entering into negotiations directly\r\nwith Prabhakaran.  Nambiar replied that an envoy's role would\r\nbe limited to achieving the specific humanitarian objective\r\nof persuading the LTTE to allow trapped civilians to leave\r\nthe safe zone and such an effort would be fully coordinated\r\nwith the government.  The President insisted that there was\r\nno guarantee that the LTTE would release civilians and that\r\nthere were clear indications that the LTTE would not\r\ncooperate in a release. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>5.  (C) The one area in which the President gave any ground\r\nat all was his willingness to consider a UN role (which he\r\ndid not specifically define) in a possible ICRC evacuation of\r\ncivilians by sea.  He conceded that the involvement of the\r\nUN, side by side with the ICRC, might possibly persuade more\r\ncivilians to try to leave the safe zone.  (Comment: The ICRC\r\nis already evacuating wounded civilians by sea, and the\r\nPresident did not discuss what additional assets would be\r\nused to effect a larger scale sea evacuation.  In addition,\r\nthe LTTE has been strictly controlling which and how many\r\ncivilians it has allowed to leave by ICRC flagged vessels,\r\nand has given no indication that it would be inclined to\r\nsignificantly increase these numbers.) \r\n\r\nGovernment Moderates Its Position\r\n--------------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>6.  (C) The government moderated its position somewhat at a\r\nlunch hosted by the Foreign Minister for Nambiar before\r\nNambiar's departure for Delhi.  The Foreign Minister and\r\nAdditional Secretary Prasad Kariyaswam clarified the GSL was\r\nprepared to allow a \"working-level\" UN team from Colombo to\r\ngo in to the safe zone with the ICRC to explore the\r\npossibilities of the LTTE allowing the UN and ICRC to\r\nevacuate civilians by sea.  He and the Minister said that if \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000431  003.3 OF 005 \r\n\r\nthere was any positive response from the LTTE and some\r\ncivilians were allowed to leave, the GSL \"would not rule out\"\r\nthe possibility of a future higher-level UN effort to\r\nnegotiate an LTTE release of larger numbers of civilians. \r\n\r\nBut No Pause\r\n------------ \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>7.  (C) The Foreign  Minister continued to maintain that the\r\nGSL could not agree to a humanitarian pause because that\r\nwould allow the LTTE to regroup, forcibly recruit and train\r\nnew civilians potentially to attack the Sri Lankan military\r\nforces.  The Minister reiterated that the Sri Lankan army\r\nwould open up humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to\r\nescape while doing everything possible to avoid civilian\r\ncasualties.  Ambassador pointed out that seventy civilians\r\nhad been killed on April 16 with many more wounded.  This was\r\nan unacceptably high level of casualties.  The Minster\r\nexpressed surprise at the casualty report.  Both the UN and\r\nICRC confirmed that those were the figures provided by the\r\nmake-shift hospital in the safe zone.  The Minister then\r\nraised the familiar GSL question of how the UN and ICRC\r\ndistinguished between civilian and combatant casualties.\r\nICRC Chief Paul Castella responded that many of those being\r\nevacuated by the ICRC are women and children.  Indian High\r\nCommissioner Prasad added that Indian doctors at the Indian\r\nHealth facility treating wounded at Pulmoddai had the same\r\ninformation. \r\n\r\nUS Warns of Potential Consequences of Military Option\r\n--------------------------------------------- -------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>8.  (C) Ambassador took the opportunity to underline the\r\nimportance of the GSL supporting a humanitarian pause and a\r\ndiplomatic solution.  He pointed out that at present, much of\r\nthe world recognizes that the LTTE is holding civilians\r\nagainst their will.  If the GSL pursues a military option\r\nwithout allowing a high level UN diplomatic effort to secure\r\nthe release of all civilians, the GSL will be seen around the\r\nworld as the aggressor and the party responsible for the high\r\nnumber of civilian casualties that would certainly occur.  He\r\nunderlined that the United States and many other countries\r\nare seriously concerned about the already high number of\r\ncivilian casualties.  He told the Minister that comparisons\r\nare already being made to what transpired in Rwanda where the\r\ninternational community did not do enough to prevent a\r\ncatastrophe. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>9.  (C) Ambassador warned the Minister that if the government\r\npursued a military option without first allowing high-level\r\ndiplomacy a chance, Sri Lanka could expect escalating\r\ninternational criticism and actions to demonstrate the\r\ninternational community's concern.  The Ambassador said such\r\nactions could include suspension of aid to Sri Lanka, closer\r\nscrutiny of IMF lending, possible war crimes investigations,\r\nand perhaps other actions.  EU Head of Mission Savage echoed\r\nthe Ambassador's comments, noting the importance of Sri Lanka\r\nprotecting civilians and giving the LTTE an opportunity to\r\nsurrender.  He said the loss of civilian lives from ongoing\r\nmilitary operations would be a humanitarian and public \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000431  004.3 OF 005 \r\n\r\nrelations disaster for Sri Lanka \"which would snatch defeat\r\nfrom the jaws of victory.\"  Indian High Commissioner Prasad\r\nagreed and referred to a very tough statement the Indian\r\nForeign Ministry had issued earlier in the day.  He said\r\nthere is \"extreme concern\" in India about civilian\r\ncasualties.  India did not see why further military action\r\nwas necessary at this time and supports a humanitarian pause. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>10.  (C) The Foreign Minister assured Prasad that Sri Lanka\r\nis sensitive to Indian and other concerns, but repeated that\r\na pause would only give oxygen to the LTTE.  He said Sri\r\nLanka needed the help of the Tamil Diaspora to persuade the\r\nLTTE to release its civilians.  Ambassador briefed the\r\nminister on the results of the meeting Assistant Secretary\r\nBoucher had hosted with American Diaspora representatives.\r\nHe explained that the Diaspora had rejected U.S. calls for\r\nthem to urge the release of civilians. \r\n\r\nSteps to Enhance Prospects for LTTE Releases\r\n-------------------------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>11.  (C) Looking ahead to the visit of UN working-level\r\nrepresentatives into the safe zone and possible future\r\nhigher-level UN visits, Ambassador suggested that the GSL\r\ncould take two important steps to improve chances of the LTTE\r\nagreeing to the release of civilians.  First, the GSL needs\r\nto adopt and implement clear benchmarks and time tables on\r\nsuch matters as the resettlement of civilians from the camps\r\nin Vavuniya and freedom of movement within the camps.  A few\r\nsuccess stories and clear time tables for implementation of\r\nmore successes would bolster IDP, donor and Diaspora\r\nconfidence about GSL intentions.  Thus far, such confidence\r\nwas waning.  He cited, for example, pledges by the\r\nPresident's brother and senior Advisor, Basil Rajapaksa, for\r\nsignificant numbers of IDPs from Vavuniya and Mannar to be\r\nresettled by the end of April.  The GSL would not only not\r\nmeet that target, it had no clear time table for when it\r\nmight do so. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>12.  (C) The second step that the GSL could take to enhance\r\nprospects for LTTE release of civilians would be for the\r\nPresident to announce his plans for sharing power with Tamils\r\nand ensuring them a future of respect and dignity within a\r\nunited Sri Lanka.  Prasad echoed that would be very important\r\nfor India as well.  ICRC Chief Castella added that Basil\r\nRajapaksa also had pledged in February to allow ICRC access\r\nto all IDP registration sites.  However, the ICRC still did\r\nnot have access to Pulmoddai, the first stop for all evacuees\r\nfrom the safe zone, nor did it have a presence in\r\nKilinochchi.  ICRC access at both sites would do much to\r\nbuild confidence in the registration process. \r\n\r\nComment and Next Steps\r\n---------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>13.  (C) The President's hard line position is likely\r\nmotivated in part by his need to play to his southern Sinhala\r\npolitical base in the elections for the Western Provincial\r\nCouncil that will take place later this month.  However, his \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000431  005.3 OF 005 \r\n\r\nvisit to Kilinochchi to meet with the troops may have\r\nreinforced his conviction that the government finally has the\r\nLTTE trapped with a military victory in close reach. We are\r\nencouraged that the Foreign Ministry left an opening for a\r\npossible higher-level UN effort, provided the LTTE cooperates\r\nin releasing to the working level UN team at least some\r\ncivilians as a sign of good faith.  UN Resident\r\nRepresentative Buhne told Ambassador the UN will send a UN\r\nsecurity advance team to the safe zone as soon as possible\r\nwith a view to sending in the working-level team as soon as\r\npossible thereafter.  In the meantime, the international\r\ncommunity must continue to pressure the GSL to agree to a\r\npause and cease military actions to allow diplomacy to work.\r\nIt is also important that no public mention be made of a\r\npossible UN effort to release civilians, lest Sinhala\r\nnationalists seek to capitalize on the upcoming elections to\r\nforce the GSL to back down from even the limited concessions\r\nthey have made.\r\nBLAKE<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":34560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,26,27],"tags":[2154,2198,2199,2197,1402,2200],"class_list":["post-34558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-war-crimes","category-wikileaks","tag-last-phrase-of-the-sri-lankan-war","tag-robert-blake-on-sri-lanka","tag-un-efforts-war","tag-vijay-nambiar-on-sri-lanka","tag-war-crimes-sri-lanka","tag-wkileaks-on-sri-lankan-war"],"yoast_head":"\nWikiLeaks: How Can The UN Consider Having Contact With Terrorists? MR To UN - 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\/wikileaks-how-can-the-un-consider-having-contact-with-terrorist-mr-to-un\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: How Can The UN Consider Having Contact With Terrorists? 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