Port-of-Spain: Finance Minister Winston Dookeran who acted as prime minister of this country during the 1990 insurrection by Islamic group, the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, says he did not expect an amnesty which he signed, to become a legally binding document.
Dookeran was credited with brokering the amnesty deal and defusing a tense situation in Parliament, gave evidence on Tuesday at the Commission of Inquiry into the attempted coup.
He says he only negotiated with the Jamaat al Muslimeen, led in the Parliament by Bilal Abdullah, after then prime minister Arthur Robinson was shot.
He says his sole intention was to ensure no lives were lost and to ensure the Jamaat did not suceed in what he was told was their original plan to kill everyone. He recalls beginning discussion with the insurgents with his hands tied, and says this is why he is today surprised that the amnesty held up in the courts.
Minister Dookeran sought to clear up a misconception that he deserted his parliamentary colleagues and betrayed the insurgents, when he was released with the heads of agreement document and never returned. Instead he says he would have preferred to be at the Red House with his colleagues who were being held hostage.
Dookeran says in his opinion, the Jamaat's motives for carrying out the attack may have been an ongoing land dispute, since he says they received no support from the population during or after the attempted coup.
You must be logged in to post a comment.