Henry stands by her story, reiterates that Manning spoke with insurrectionists

Gloria Henry, the former National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) minister, is standing by her story that she saw Patrick Manning speaking with members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen at the Red House shortly before the rebels stormed the Parliament and took several MPs hostage, including then Prime Minister ANR Robinson.

Henry repeated her statement at Tuesday's sitting of the inquiry into the failed 1990 coup. She made the charge when she first appeared before the commission.

That's when she said she saw Manning speaking to a group of young men whom she later recognised as Muslimeen insurgents who took part in the storming of the Parliament. Manning was not at the legislature when the insurgents moved in and he is on record as calling it "a family squabble".

However he has denied any prior knowlegde of what happened and has denied Henry's claim.

Chairman of the commission, Sir David Simmons, told Henry Tuesday there was a media report in which Manning denied the veracity of her statement given on May 2. 

He told the former minister at some stage she may be required to face cross-examination by Manning's attorney on that issue. "I have no problem with that", she said.