( L - R ) Coard, Austin

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):

Convicted killers of former revolutionary Prime Minister Maurice Bishop have apologised for their roles in his demise, his daughter Nadia Bishop has disclosed.

The 10 members of the former Socialist People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) and army now serving their last three years at the Richmond Hill prisons for the crime, have said that they regretted the events of October19, 1983.

The men outlined their feelings to the younger Bishop during an historic, unprecedented extremely emotional three-hour meeting at the prisons on Monday.

"Each man expressed his regret for the events of October 19 and extended a very sincere and heartfelt apology to me, my family and all of the families who have suffered losses on October 19," Bishop told reporters during a specially arranged news conference.

"I accepted their apologies on behalf of myself and my family. I cannot, of course, accept their apologies on anyone else's behalf. But I can at least convey them."

House arrest

The remaining prisoners include former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, ex-army general Hudson Austin and former Mobilisation Minister Selwyn Strachan.

Bishop was placed under house arrest in the face of a spiralling dispute over the issue of joint leadership of the PRG, between himself and Coard.

Crowds, who took to the streets in support of Bishop, rescued him from house arrest and carried him to Fort George where he was later lined up against a wall and executed along with several Cabinet colleagues.

"And each man after 24 years of reflection is aware of his role and responsibility in the events of October 19," said Bishop, who explained that, despite reservations from some people, she had extended an unconditional pardon to the men responsible for her father's death.

"I want to acknowledge the work that each of these men have done to get past their bitterness, anger and hatred," she explained.

"I commend them for the work that they have done at the prison in helping to educate their fellow inmates and to improve themselves through further study and education," said Bishop in reference to the achievements of some of the convicts in attaining university degrees and helping prisoners acquire passes at GCE , CXC and school-leaving examination.

The issue of extending sympathy to the convicted killers has been one of extreme contention here over the years.

Persons who lost family members during the bloody political upheavals of l983 remain vehemently opposed to their release from prisons.

However, the majority of callers to local talk show have expressed support for the position taken by Nadia, now a United States-based lawyer.