Mafia-style
killing at Guyana newspaper
By
Carool
Matroo
Trinidad
Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
08 14 06
A
mafia-style killing at Guyana’s largest newspaper
on Tuesday night quickly changed that country’s
pre-election atmosphere from being described as
mundane to one of apprehension, a source said yesterday.
The
source said that shortly before midnight on Tuesday,
a group of men, armed with automatic weapons, stormed
the Kaieteur News printing department, ordering
the six workers there to lie on the floor.
The
men, after shooting each worker at the back of the
head at point blank range, then fled the scene.
Four
of the men died at the scene of the shooting.
The
source said two other men at the scene barely escaped
with their lives.
“They
tried to kill the watchman, but he was lucky. He
bore two grooves at the back of his head where the
bullets hit. The other man is still in intensive
care,” he said.
He
said two other men were killed in other areas.
The
names of the dead men include Richard Stewart, Wordsworth
Grey, Chetram Persaud, Eion Wegman, Mark Maikoo
and Shazeem Mohammed.
There
was speculation that the onslaught may be linked
to a simultaneous protest taking place at the South
American nation’s main prison.
At
the time of the attack, police officers in the capital
of Georgetown had been dispatched to quell a demonstration
by prisoners protesting overcrowding and a shortage
of water, officials said.
The
source said that while the attack may not be directly
connected to the campaign, “it has certainly
changed the climate.”
“Before,
we felt like nothing was going on. Now, too much
is happening. It is very destabilising and disturbing,”
he said, adding that he was still in shock over
the incident.
The
source said guns were “all over the place.”
“There
are private armies and militias here in Guyana.
Last night (Tuesday) people reported seeing men
firing shots into the air,” he said.
The
South American country has been one fraught with
violence, made worse by a relatively small police
presence.
“Guyana
is a large territory, you don’t know just
how large, with a small police force. The police
don’t even have a helicopter,” the source
said.
He
said that last February, more than 30 AK 47 rifles
were stolen.
“There
are a lot of guns that are now in unauthorised hands.
We really do not know how this is going to impact
the campaign,” the source said.
The
attack came amid preparations for the August 28
General Elections in the former Dutch and British
colony.
Authorities
in Guyana said there was no evidence that the shooting
was a robbery gone bad, and could give no motive
for the bloody attack.
Guyana
president Bharrat Jagdeo said: “This is a
deliberate act targeting the Kaieteur News. We have
to find out whether there is a link with what happened
at the prison because it was going on at the same
time."
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday
10th August, 2006
Copyright
©2006 Trinidad Guardian. All Rights Reserved.
