GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC):

Chairman of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) Bishop Juan Edghill has condemned the killing of 11 people in the East Coast Demerara village of Lusignan on Saturday and warned that the massacre places the country on the brink of a racial volcanic eruption.

"At a time when Guyanese seemed to have been making significant strides in forging harmony among our population, this appalling act of crime, which seems to have been perpetrated to create mayhem and instability in our society, is strongly denounced. Every possible effort must be made for the perpetrators to be brought to justice," he said of the murders, which included five children.

Residents protest

Residents of several villages along the east coast have taken to the streets following Saturday's killings by a group that the police say includes the country's most-wanted criminal, Rondel 'Fine Man' Rawlins.

Rawlins is reported to have warned law-enforcement authorities that there would be mayhem in the country if his reputed pregnant common law wife was not released by abductors.

The police have offered a G$30 million (US$150,000) reward for Rawlins' capture. He is wanted for several murders, including the April 2006 assassination of Agriculture Minister Satyadeow 'Sash' Sawh.

Describing the killers as "terrorists", Bishop Edghill urged nationals to rally around the Lusignan community, specifically those immediately affected by last Saturday's tragedy.

He said the ERC was concerned about this and other heinous acts of crime perpetrated by terrorists since the commission has been engaged in stemming the tide of animosity among the citizenry.

"Over recent times, there has been a pattern of criminal activities, particularly, multiple murders, which were clearly not acts of banditry. These acts included the massacre of eight persons in Agricola on February 26, 2006; the late Minister Satyadeow Sawh, his siblings and security guard on April 26, 2006; and, the Kaieteur News pressmen and the 'reign of terror' in Bagotstown on August 8, 2006. There were also the killings in Canal No. 2 on October 24, 2006; and of members of the security forces."