An "apology" from Dési Bouterse

Well now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Former Surinamese military dictator Dési Bouterse has finally apologized for his responsibility in the "extra judicial killings" of 15 government opponents during his reign in 1982. Well, sort of. Bouterse, who led a coup d'etat that overthrew the government in 1980, told surviving relatives of the 15 people that while he was "politically responsible" for the 15 murders, but denied any personal responsibility for the shootings.

After his brief apology, Bouterse attempted to tell "his side of the story" by saying that the 15 people were CIA agents attempting to overthrow him, a charge the surviving families vehemently deny. Bouterse also, perhaps not surprisingly, called for a government amnesty for those directly accused of the killings. Lest anyone think this request is due for some desire for "closure", Bouterse is more likely afraid that should any of the accused come to trial, they'll simply say what everyone's known all along: they simply acted on Bouterse's orders.

I'm sure those surviving family members feel much better now that he's cleared that up. If we know one thing about Dési Bouterse, it's that he's a class act all the way.