WikiLeaks: “Looked Like” EPDP And SL Navy Burnt The Uthayan – Basil To US

“He added that it ‘looked like’ EPDP cadres, along with the SLN, had perpetrated the mid-August burning of the pro-LTTE Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna”, the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.
The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable is classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and recounts details of a meeting US Ambassador to Colombo had with the President’s advisor and brother Basil Rajapaksa on October 4, 2006. The cable was written by the US Ambassador to Colombo, Robert O. Blake.
Ambassador Blake wrote “‘We have had trouble with other Tamil groups,’ Rajapaksa explained, naming Douglas Devananda’s Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Karuna Faction who ‘might have weapons.’ Rajapaksa said that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) has requested Devananda and the Tamil Mukkal Vidutalai Pulikal (TMVP – Tamil People’s Liberation Tigers, a.k.a. the Karuna faction) to control their members and in the case of the TMVP to ‘go back to Batticaloa.’ ‘We have clearly instructed Douglas and Karuna that they are personally responsible for the actions of their members.’ He added that it ‘looked like’ EPDP cadres, along with the SLN, had perpetrated the mid-August burning of the pro-LTTE Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna.
Under the subheading “Winning Hearts and Minds in Jaffna” the Ambassador wrote, “Rajapaksa spoke proudly of the GSL’s efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Jaffna, where fighting since August 11 has cut off the supply line by land. He said that in Jaffna ‘the Tamils feel we are trying to look after them by sending supplies. They know that the LTTE refused to allow the ICRC supply chain but that we have never stopped supplying food despite the cost.’”

We give below the relevant part of the leaked cable:

VZCZCXRO9362
PP RUEHBI
DE RUEHLM #1622/01 2771153
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041153Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4404
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 9478
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY
ISLAMABAD 6378
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY
KATHMANDU 4423
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY
LONDON 3225
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY
NEW DELHI 0024
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY
OSLO 3316
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0393
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2395
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL
CHENNAI 6934
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4776
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1397
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001622
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/04/2016
TAGS:PREL PTERPHUMPREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR BASIL RAJAPAKSA
SPEAKS FRANKLY ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND KARUNA FACTION
REF: A. COLOMBO 1617 AND PREVIOUS
B. COLOMBO 1604 AND PREVIOUS
Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake for reasons 1.4(b,d).
9. (C) “We have had trouble with other Tamil groups,”
Rajapaksa explained, naming Douglas Devananda’s Eelam
People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Karuna Faction who
“might have weapons.”  Rajapaksa said that the Government of
Sri Lanka (GSL) has requested Devananda and the Tamil Mukkal
Vidutalai Pulikal (TMVP – Tamil People’s Liberation Tigers,
a.k.a. the Karuna faction) to control their members and in
the case of the TMVP to “go back to Batticaloa.”  “We have
clearly instructed Douglas and Karuna that they are
personally responsible for the actions of their members.”  He
added that it “looked like” EPDP cadres, along with the SLN,
had perpetrated the mid-August burning of the pro-LTTE
Uthayan newspaper office in Jaffna.
“Winning Hearts and Minds in Jaffna”
10. (C) Rajapaksa spoke proudly of the GSL’s efforts to
improve the humanitarian situation in Jaffna, where fighting
since August 11 has cut off the supply line by land.  He said
that in Jaffna “the Tamils feel we are trying to look after
them by sending supplies.  They know that the LTTE refused to
allow the ICRC supply chain but that we have never stopped
supplying food despite the cost.”
BLAKE

Courtesy: Colombo Telegraph