President Bharrat Jagdeo has said no to suggestions that he or the government should consider having dialogue with the criminals involved in the brutal slaying of 11 persons at Lusignan on January 26.
He categorically stated that his government will not have any talks with the criminals responsible for brutal killings in a number of communities.
The President made these comments on Friday during a special interview at the Office of the President, with officials of the National Communica-tions Network.
“Let me make it clear. I don’t know what the people who are urging us to have dialogue with the criminals want us to say to them. Should I say to them that we will forgive you for the killings in Lusignan? We will forgive you for all the other killings? The killing of the eight people in Agricola? The killing of so many others, if you come in peacefully? Should I say that to them?” the President asked, according to a Government Information Agency (GINA) report.
Jagdeo said those making the calls for such talks should themselves try to have dialogue with the criminals.
“I urge them to do that to see if they can broker some arrangement with these criminals out of the goodness of their hearts that they would stop killing people. I don’t subscribe to it for a moment. I think we have to go after these people and get them,” the President is quoted by GINA as saying.
Responding to a question about the intelligence capacity of the Joint Forces to capture the criminals, Jagdeo said that should these persons who may be in contact with the criminals know where they are, they should tell the security forces.
He said while the forces have the capacity to engage the criminals, the problem is having the intelligence on where they are.
The President also alluded to another group which reportedly said the killers were insurgents fighting for a cause. He declared that the issue was not about politics, race or religion, but about decent people in every race and in every religion and in all political parties against criminals.
“So, when they say that it is an insurgence fighting for a cause for power sharing, I wonder how serious these people could be because if they
