இந்தியாவைத் தொடர்ந்து ஆப்கானிஸ்தானில் அமெரிக்காவுக்கு முண்டுகொடுக்கும் இனப்படுகொலை கோதபாயா இராணுவம்!

“Assistant secretary Robert Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to US – led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military – to – military engagement.” a leaked US diplomatic cable reveals.


WikiLeaks – Gota to provide mercenaries to Afghan war
Posted by Colombo Telegraph ⋅ October 6, 2011 ⋅ 20
By Colombo Telegraph

“Assistant secretary Robert Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to US – led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military – to – military engagement.” a leaked US diplomatic cable reveals.

In an attempt to avoid the stigma associated with mercenaries
The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable classified as “CONFIDENTIAL” and recount details of a meeting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake had with Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on 8th December 2009. They discussed the subjects such as accountability and reconciliation, security and reconstruction, ICRC and ex- combatants, military missions, LTTE links to Eritrea and potential Sri Lankan contributions to peace keeping operations and US – led coalition efforts.

“Rajapaksa replied that contributing forces for combat operations right now would be too politically sensitive during the current election season in Sri Lanka. He added that the GSL would have to consider seriously the implications for its Muslim minority as well as the danger of drawing the ire of groups like Al – Qaida and Lashkar –e –Taiba by becoming a force provider. He said possible alternative for Sri Lanka might be to provide training assistance to Afghan security forces under the auspices of a non – governmental organization or private company.” the cable reveals.

The cable further says “Blake warned that Lakshar – e – Taiba, which had used Nepal and Bangladesh as staging posts to attack India, could next turn to Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa related that GSL had arrested two men transiting Sri Lanka to Nepal based on information provided by India’s research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The GSL has since turned them over to RAW. Rajapaksa noted that the GSL has assigned separate officers to watch extremists. Blake suggested that the GSL exchange further information about LTTE networks with US counter – terrorism experts.”

Contributing forces for combat operations right now would be too politically sensitive during the current election season in Sri Lanka
“Private Military Companies (PMC) refer to their business generally as the private military industry, in an attempt to avoid the stigma often associated with mercenaries.” a military analyst told Colombo Telegraph.

The services and expertise offered by PMCs are typically similar to those of governmental military or police forces, most often on a smaller scale. While PMCs often provide services to train or supplement official armed forces in service of governments, they can also be employed by private companies to provide bodyguards for key staff or protection of company premises, especially in hostile territories. However, contractors who use offensive force in a war zone could be considered unlawful combatants in reference to a concept outlined in the Geneva Conventions and explicitly specified by the US Military Commissions Act.

Many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are not signatories to the 1989 United Nations Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries.
Read the full cable below.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001159 

SIPDIS 

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/08/2019

TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE

SUBJECT: DEFENSE SECRETARY DEFENDS SRI LANKAN POLICIES WITH

A/S BLAKE 

COLOMBO 00001159  001.8 OF 003 

Classified By: DCM VALERIE FOWLER.  REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) 

¶1. (C) SUMMARY:  In a December 8 meeting with A/S Blake, Sri

Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa discussed

accountability and reconciliation; the State of Emergency;

disarmament of ex-combatants and paramilitary groups;

reconstruction in the North; rehabilitation of Liberation

Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ex-combatants; LTTE child

soldiers; access to LTTE ex-combatants for the International

Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); potential Sri Lankan

contributions to peacekeeping operations and to U.S.-led

coalition efforts, and Sri Lankan military expansion plans.

A/S Blake noted that ICRC access to LTTE ex-combatants and

GSL action to hold members of the military accountable for

any human rights abuses or possibly war crimes would be

important for the normalization of our military-to-military

relations.  END SUMMARY. 

ACCOUNTABILITY AND RECONCILIATION

--------------------------------- 

¶2. (C) A/S Blake emphasized American and international

expectations and concerns about accountability and

reconciliation, and urged the GSL to make every effort to

show it had investigated and when appropriate held

accountable members of the military alleged to have committed

human rights abuses or war crimes.  Rajapaksa asserted that

the military was taking action, and -- in response to A/S

Blake's request -- agreed to provide the United States with a

copy of the Ministry of Defense's input into the GSL response

to the European Union's Generalized System of Preferences

(GSP)-Plus report.  (NOTE: The Embassy subsequently received

a copy of the "Observations of the Government of Sri Lanka in

respect of the 'Report on the Findings of the Investigation

with Respect to the Effective Implementation of certain human

rights Conventions in Sri Lanka'."  The Observations were

essentially a narrative defense of the GSL position, appeared

to have little input from the Ministry of Defense, and

contained no statistics on military investigations of

potential criminal acts.  The Embassy has continued to try to

get the report on military investigations that the Defense

Secretary promised to A/S Blake, as well as to Ambassador

Butenis, but thus far has been unsuccessful.  END NOTE.) 

SECURITY AND RECONSTRUCTION

---------------------------- 

¶3. (C) A/S Blake suggested that lifting the State of

Emergency would help demonstrate GSL progress addressing

long-term human rights concerns.  Speaking hours after

Parliament had extended the State of Emergency for another

month, Rajapaksa replied the provisions remained necessary,

primarily to keep in detention the 1,000 or so hard-core LTTE

cadres.  He said the GSL was trying to figure out a way ahead

to process the detainees within the judicial system, but if

the Emergency were lifted now, the GSL would have to release

them.  Rajapaksa emphasized that most of the other security

restrictions had already been eased or lifted, including

restrictions on air travel, transportation, and those related

to the fishing industry. 

¶4. (C) In response to A/S Blake's suggestion that the GSL

disarm paramilitary groups in the North as it had done in the

East, Rajapaksa noted that the government had disarmed all

militant groups, including those in Vavuniya.  He said every

day the security forces are collecting arms and ammunition,

uncovering many hidden caches from information provided by

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and LTTE ex-combatants.

He dismissed recent media reports of a Tamil group

identifying itself as a Peoples' Liberation Army and calling 

COLOMBO 00001159  002.6 OF 003 

for an independent homeland for Tamils.  Rajapaksa said the

GSL has excellent security controls in the Eastern Province,

and had seen no indication of any such group. 

¶5. (C) Rajapaksa said the GSL had encouraged the Tamil

diaspora to take a greater role in reconstruction.  He said

that there was a critical need for construction of housing

and hoped the diaspora would provide assistance as they had

done after the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami in the

North, the South, and in the Eastern Province.  A/S Blake

mentioned his trip to the IDP camps and resettled areas in

the North.  He noted few patients in the hospital in the

camps.  He said the area around Madhu Church had not appeared

as damaged by the war as expected.  He said the resettled

IDPs had expressed the need for two types of assistance,

namely more computers and more bicycles, adding that the IDPs

had told him that the Sri Lankan Army had passed out a lot of

bicycles to them, but they would like more.  Rajapaksa

responded that the Army had carried out most of the clearing,

reconstruction and renovation around the Madhu Church. 

ICRC AND EX-COMBATANTS

---------------------- 

¶6. (C) In response to A/S Blake's support for the ICRC's

mandate, Rajapaksa said the ICRC continued to visit LTTE

cadres in prisons and there was no problem with ICRC visiting

the LTTE ex-combatant camps.  Rajapaksa said he had no issue

with ICRC performing its monitoring mission.  He said it was

inappropriate, however, for the ICRC to interfere in the

rehabilitation programs that were the purview of

International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the GSL.

He blamed the ICRC for undermining international donor

support for IOM rehabilitation programs, and encouraged A/S

Blake to discuss the problem with IOM representatives.  Blake

clarified that the ICRC was not undermining such support.

Rather, by granting ICRC periodic access, the GSL could

improve prospects for international support. Rajapaksa

highlighted that the LTTE child soldiers' education program

at Hindu College in Ratmalana was going well.  He said that

during his recent visit to the facility, he had spoken to the

children and that most wanted to continue their studies and

rejoin their families.  Rajapaksa noted that there were two

or three cases of children with no families and that one

child thought his parents had gone to London, but no one had

been able to trace them. 

MILITARY MISSIONS

----------------- 

¶7. (C) Rajapaksa discussed his future plans for the Sri Lanka

military to participate in UN Peacekeeping missions.

Rajapaksa said he could make 10,000 peacekeepers available

"today" for deployment on UN missions.  Although Sri Lankan

Air Force (SLAF) aircraft were also available, deployments

were impractical given the unaffordable up-front costs the

GSL would incur just to deploy them.  Regarding participation

in maritime coalition operations to counter piracy and the

trafficking of persons and narcotics, Rajapaksa noted that

Sri Lanka would be very open to the idea.  Regarding reported

plans to expand the military, Rajapaksa said he had

instructed the military to develop a plan for expanding

maritime capabilities, with the primary intent of preventing

the LTTE from once again smuggling arms and ammunition into

Sri Lanka.  He said the Sri Lankan Navy would be critical to

stopping any LTTE smuggling operations, and would also play a

significant role in countering the LTTE's human trafficking

operations throughout the region to destinations such as

Australia and Canada. 

COLOMBO 00001159  003.8 OF 003 

AFGHANISTAN

----------- 

¶8. (C) A/S Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka

contributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan,

noting that would be a significant step in support of

improving military-to-military engagement.  Rajapaksa replied

that contributing forces for combat operations right now

would be too politically sensitive during the current

election season in Sri Lanka.  He added that the GSL would

have to consider seriously the implications for its Muslim

minority as well as the danger of drawing the ire of groups

like Al-Qaida and Lashkar-e-Taiba by becoming a force

provider.  He said a possible alternative for Sri Lanka might

be to provide training assistance to Afghan security forces

under the auspices of a non-governmental organization or

private company.  He recalled a local precedent for this

approach, dating back to 1985-1986 when a South Africa-based

company had provided security assistance to Sri Lanka in the

early years of the war with the LTTE.  He said the company

had provided military and security experts from a host of

countries, including the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth

nations, and even some Russians.  For four or five years, the

company was based in Jaffna and had trained Sri Lankan pilots

and taught infantry tactics, including close quarters combat

skills.  He said that while the South African company had not

participated in combat operations, it had closely monitored

Sri Lankan military operations, assisting in de-briefing

patrols and conducting after action reviews. 

LTTE LINKS TO ERITREA AND LET

----------------------------- 

¶9. (C) Rajapaksa briefed that the GSL knew of five planes

that the LTTE had purchased in Eritrea, where they remained.

The LTTE had also established boat-building operations in

Eritrea, he added.  The Eritrean government has rebuffed GSL

attempts to open a diplomatic mission.  He claimed that LTTE

operatives also helped train Somali terrorists in Eritrea.

Rajapaksa outlined that the LTTE employed middlemen in India,

Philippines, Eritrea, Thailand and Malaysia, and used

Singapore as the financial hub.  The brokers usually married

a native, started a business, and bribed officials to

facilitate deals.  The shipments originated in North Korea,

and usually contained Chinese-origin goods. 

¶10. (C) A/S Blake warned that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which

has used Nepal and Bangladesh as staging posts to attack

India, could next turn to Sri Lanka.  Rajapaksa related that

the GSL had arrested two men transiting Sri Lanka to Nepal

based on information provided by India's Research and

Analysis Wing (RAW).  The GSL has since turned them over to

RAW.  Rajapaksa noted that the GSL has assigned separate

officers to watch for extremists.  A/S Blake suggested that

the GSL exchange further information about LTTE networks with

U.S. counter-terrorism experts.

BUTENIS