Army chief: Talks not derailed by mercenary attack
UPI
PARAMARIBO, Suriname — The head of Suriname’s army said Wednesday an attack on a military outpost that killed seven soldiers was the work of mercenaries bent on derailing the former Dutch colony’s peace talks with insurgents.
Commander Desie Bouterse said at a news conference, ‘What we know for sure is that the attackers are mercenaries, and the question which puts to mind is who hired the mercenaries?’
The attack on the outpost 65 miles south of the capital in the Brokopondo region left sven soldiers dead and six wounded. It was said to have been led by a French-speaking mercenary.
Ronnie Brunswijk, leader of the guerrilla Jungle Command of the insurgent Suriname National Liberation Army, denied any involvement in the attack. Bouterse said he believed Brunswijk, who, he said, ‘is serious in his attempts to work for tranquility in the country and for peace.’
Bouterse said a group of rebels loyal to Brunswijk were attacked Wednesday at Pokigron, a village in central Suriname. He said he had no details of the attack and did not know if there were casualties.
In another development Wednesday, human rights activist Stanley Rensch told reporters an unknown gunman attempted to assassinate him. Rensch said he was awakened about 3:30 a.m. by a knock at the door. He said he saw a man standing outside with a shotgun and heard a voice cry out, ‘Don’t hesitate! Shoot!’
Rensch said he fell to the floor as a shot was fired. He escaped through the back door to safety at a neighbor’s house.
Rensch has been active and outspoken in human rights matters in Suriname.
Peace talks to end the 3-year-old insurgency started in June 1988 and the most recent round in July in Kourou, French Guiana, led to the lifting of a national state of emergency by President Ramsawak Shankar.
Shankar went on television after Monday’s assault and warned that police and the army would take vigorous action against any groups attempting ‘to frustrate the peace process.’ He also said, however, that he was pessimistic about the prospects of a speedy end to the insurgency.
Brunswijk has asked that his Jungle Command be transformed into a special police unit, which the military contends would amount to legalizing a terrorist group.
Bouterse said forces, which he did not identify, wanted to create suspicion between him and Brunswijk ‘to create a chaotic situation’ from which a new rebel group could emerge, replacing Bruswijk as leader of the Jungle Command.
He said the peace dialogue ‘will not be derailed.’
In The Hague, former Suriname Deputy Prime Minister Andre Haakmat told reporters a busload of white, English-speaking mercenaries was heading toward Paramaribo to overthrow the government of President Ramsawak Shankar.
‘Heavy fighting is expected to break out within a few hours,’ said Haakmat, who left his post in 1981 and now lives in Holland. He has previously negotiated settlements between the Suriname government and insurgents.
There was no indication in Paramaribo that the mercenaries were planning to attack the capital.
Shankar took office last year, returning the country to democracy after eight years of military rule by Bouterse, who seized power in 1980 to depose a corrupt civilian regime.
The former Dutch colony, slightly larger than Georgia with 63,251 square miles, became independent on Nov. 25, 1975. It lies on South America’s Atlantic shoulder and borders Guyana, French Guiana and Brazil.
Its population of 352,000 is 35 percent East Indian, 30 percent Creole, 15 percent Javanese and 10 percent black descendants of African slaves. Europeans, Ameri-Indians and Chinese make up the rest.
Source:
Link:
Internal Link: