{"id":71014,"date":"2013-01-25T09:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-25T09:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=71014"},"modified":"2013-02-01T10:02:03","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T10:02:03","slug":"wikileaks-bush-personally-had-encouraged-rajapaksa-to-pursue-defeat-of-the-ltte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-bush-personally-had-encouraged-rajapaksa-to-pursue-defeat-of-the-ltte\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Bush Personally Had Encouraged Rajapaksa To Pursue Defeat Of The LTTE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\">Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cIn a private meeting following ambassador&#8217;s credentialing ceremony, President Rajapaksa expressed bewilderment and frustration at U.S. policy for encouraging him to fight terrorism and then criticizing him when he did. Rajapaksa claimed that 70 percent of the IDPs locked in camps would be returned by the end of January and complained that the UN was at fault for the poor condition of IDP camps now because they had refused to build the kind of permanent structures the GSL originally wanted. Ambassador underscored the value of the larger bilateral relationship and its great potential for expansion but stressed that the IDP issue will not go away and needs to be resolved.\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_71016\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-bush-personally-had-encouraged-rajapaksa-to-pursue-defeat-of-the-ltte\/mahinda_and_bush\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-71016\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71016\" class=\"size-full wp-image-71016\" title=\"Mahinda_And_Bush\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Mahinda_And_Bush.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-71016\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bush and Mahinda<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A Leaked \u2018Confidential\u2019 US diplomatic cable, dated September 18, 2009, updated the Secretary of State regarding Ambassador Patricia Butenis\u2019s credentialing ceremony and a private meeting she had with the President <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapaksa&amp;x=6&amp;y=4\">Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;\">The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/category\/wikileaks\/\">WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span> database. The cable is signed by the US Ambassador to Colombo <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Patricia+Butenis&amp;x=4&amp;y=3\">Patricia Butenis<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The ambassador wtore; \u201cOn September 17, Ambassador Patricia Butenis presented her credentials to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a ceremony with six other ambassadors. Foreign Minister (FM) Bogollagama made the point that ambassador had been credentialed very quickly after her arrival in country, hinting that this signaled the importance the GSL placed on the relationship with the U.S. and their desire to get it back on track. After the ceremony, the U.S. and Egyptian ambassadors were asked to stay behind for private meetings. Following a few minutes with the Egyptian, President Rajapaksa invited ambassador to speak with him, the FM, and Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExpressing a combination of bewilderment and frustration, the president pointed out that while President Bush personally had encouraged him to pursue defeat of the LTTE, we were now criticizing Sri Lanka for the conduct of its fight against terrorism. The president raised the issue of the war crimes report, which is being prepared by Department. Ambassador explained the origins of the report as congressionally mandated, noted that Assistant Secretary Blake had discussed the report with FM Bogollagama and with the Sri Lankan ambassador in Washington, and informed the president that its release to Congress had been delayed by a month. On the question of freedom of movement for IDPs, the president held to his standard paternalistic line that the GSL could not release them from the camps until de-mining was finished and infrastructure was restored. He promised that 70 percent of the IDPs would be returned by the end of January. Asked to clarify whether they would be allowed to return to their own homes or resettled in new closed camps, FM Bogollagama interjected that they would go to their own homes.\u201d Butenis further wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Read the\u00a0relevant part of the cable below;<\/p>\n<pre>VZCZCXRO8974\r\nOO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR\r\nDE RUEHLM #0893\/01 2611114\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 181114Z SEP 09\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0539\r\nINFO RUCNMEM\/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1905\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 8934\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 7172\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5129\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3311\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 5085\r\nRUEHOT\/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 1362\r\nRUEHSM\/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0620\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4195\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 9499\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 6800\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 1291\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3736\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEKJCS\/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY<\/pre>\n<pre>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000893 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 09\/21\/2019\r\nTAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE\r\nSUBJECT: PRESIDENT BEWILDERED, FRUSTRATED WITH U.S. SRI\r\nLANKA POLICY \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000893  001.2 OF 002 \r\n\r\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA BUTENIS.  REASONS: 1.4 (B, D). \r\n\r\n\u00b61. (C) SUMMARY: In a private meeting following ambassador's\r\ncredentialing ceremony, President Rajapaksa expressed\r\nbewilderment and frustration at U.S. policy for encouraging\r\nhim to fight terrorism and then criticizing him when he did.\r\nRajapaksa claimed that 70 percent of the IDPs locked in camps\r\nwould be returned by the end of January and complained that\r\nthe UN was at fault for the poor condition of IDP camps now\r\nbecause they had refused to build the kind of permanent\r\nstructures the GSL originally wanted.  Ambassador underscored\r\nthe value of the larger bilateral relationship and its great\r\npotential for expansion but stressed that the IDP issue will\r\nnot go away and needs to be resolved.  END SUMMARY. \r\n\r\nAMBASSADOR CREDENTIALED\r\n----------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b62. (C) On September 17, Ambassador Patricia Butenis presented\r\nher credentials to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in\r\na ceremony with six other ambassadors.  Foreign Minister (FM)\r\nBogollagama made the point that ambassador had been\r\ncredentialed very quickly after her arrival in country,\r\nhinting that this signaled the importance the GSL placed on\r\nthe relationship with the U.S. and their desire to get it\r\nback on track.  After the ceremony, the U.S. and Egyptian\r\nambassadors were asked to stay behind for private meetings.\r\nFollowing a few minutes with the Egyptian, President\r\nRajapaksa invited ambassador to speak with him, the FM, and\r\nPresidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga \r\n\r\nPRESIDENT: TERROR FIGHT CONTINUES\r\n--------------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b63. (C) Expressing a combination of bewilderment and\r\nfrustration, the president pointed out that while President\r\nBush personally had encouraged him to pursue defeat of the\r\nLTTE, we were now criticizing Sri Lanka for the conduct of\r\nits fight against terrorism.  The president raised the issue\r\nof the war crimes report, which is being prepared by\r\nDepartment.  Ambassador explained the origins of the report\r\nas congressionally mandated, noted that Assistant Secretary\r\nBlake had discussed the report with FM Bogollagama and with\r\nthe Sri Lankan ambassador in Washington, and informed the\r\npresident that its release to Congress had been delayed by a\r\nmonth.  On the question of freedom of movement for IDPs, the\r\npresident held to his standard paternalistic line that the\r\nGSL could not release them from the camps until de-mining was\r\nfinished and infrastructure was restored.  He promised that\r\n70 percent of the IDPs would be returned by the end of\r\nJanuary.  Asked to clarify whether they would be allowed to\r\nreturn to their own homes or resettled in new closed camps,\r\nFM Bogollagama interjected that they would go to their own\r\nhomes.<\/pre>\n<p>BUTENIS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":71017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WikiLeaks: Bush Personally Had Encouraged Rajapaksa To Pursue Defeat Of The LTTE - 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-bush-personally-had-encouraged-rajapaksa-to-pursue-defeat-of-the-ltte\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: Bush Personally Had Encouraged Rajapaksa To Pursue Defeat Of The LTTE - 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