WikiLeaks: Nambiar Brought Limited Progress, Indian’s Tone Is Much Tougher Than Ever – Blake

Colombo TelegraphMARCH 12, 2012

By Colombo Telegraph

“The visit of the UN Secretary General’s Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar brought limited progress, with some prospect of a working-level UN mission to try to negotiate the release of greater numbers of civilians from the LTTE-controlled ‘safe zone.’”the US Embassy informed Washington.

While it is incumbent on the LTTE to release all civilians and IDPs under their control, the Government of Sri Lanka cannot be oblivious to the evolving human tragedy and the fate of the Tamil civilian population caught up in the so-called No Fire Zone. There is no reason not to continue with the pause in military actions in the NFZ

“UNSYG Chief of Staff Nambiar reported to Co-Chair Ambassadors limited progress with senior Sri Lankan officials on obtaining a lengthier cease fire and time for diplomacy to persuade the LTTE to lay down arms and let civilians go. The President and his brother, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, opposed any longer pause on the grounds it would only help the LTTE regroup, forcibly recruit more civilians, and train them to fight the Sri Lankan military.” the US Embassy Colombo updated the Secretary of State.

The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable was written on April 17, 2009 by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Robert O. Blake.

The US Ambassador wrote “The UN resident coordinator in Colombo reported that secretary general Ban Ki-Moon had discussed Sri Lanka on April 16 with both the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Solana and US Perm Rep Susan Rice. A priest who had been serving the population in the LTTE-control area until two weeks ago briefed us on conditions in the safe zone. He noted that nearly all the civilians in the LTTE-controlled area would leave if they could. He said the LTTE had pushed back an attempt by the Army to penetrate into the safe zone and split it.”

Blake wrote “R. Sampanthan, the leader of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led a delegation of four TNA MPs to Delhi for meetings April 16-17 with Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon. A member of the delegation, MP Premachandran, stated: ‘We told the Indian government that the military operations (in Sri Lanka) must be stopped.’ Explaining what the TNA expected from New Delhi, he added, ‘India must tell Sri Lanka that if it cannot protect civilians, then it (India) will have a responsibility to do so.’”

“The Indian High Commission made us aware of the following statement issued in New Delhi by the External Affairs Ministry. (Comment: in tone and substance, much tougher than the comparatively rare statements on the Sri Lankan situation we have seen before. End comment.)” Blake further wrote.

Indian’s wrote; “We had welcomed the announcement by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse of a cessation of hostilities for the Tamil and Sinhala New Year over the last two days. The Government of Sri Lanka must extend this pause in hostilities to prevent further casualties and enable trapped civilians to leave the area to secure locations. Continuation of precipitate military actions leading to further civilian casualties at this time would be totally unacceptable. While it is incumbent on the LTTE to release all civilians and IDPs under their control, the Government of Sri Lanka cannot be oblivious to the evolving human tragedy and the fate of the Tamil civilian population caught up in the so-called No Fire Zone. There is no reason not to continue with the pause in military actions in the NFZ.”

Read the cable below for Indian’s statement and for further details;