In a statement released yesterday, it condemned "deliberate activities" to disrupt the "orderly and peaceful conduct of the funeral programme" for Blair.

Police said they were fired at and had bottles and objects hurled at them at Buxton Monday, resulting in a confrontation in which two persons were wounded by pellets.

Blair, who Police said was shot dead after he resisted arrest at his Buxton home, was buried following a procession organised through some streets of Georgetown and along the main East Coast Demerara highway to Buxton by the PNC/R.

Police said there were several incidents of criminal activities, including sporadic gunfire.

A group of persons from the crowd also dug two ditches on the Friendship road and traffic was brought to a standstill for several hours because of the violent incidents.

Chairman of the Joint Services Coordinating Council (JSCC), Brigadier Michael Atherly, was Tuesday loud in his praise for the Police Force, particularly members of the Tactical Services Unit, who were responsible for restoring peace at Buxton following the shooting incident during the funeral procession.

In a statement, Atherly, also Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), noted that thousands attended the funeral and during the procession the situation became disorderly.

In the statement from Defence Headquarters, he praised members of the Police Force for "the professional and efficient manner in which they were able to bring the crowd under control without further escalation of violence."

He noted that the tactical conduct of the Police operations conformed with the principles of minimum force and restraint necessary under the prevailing conditions and this helped to defuse a "potentially explosive situation", the statement said.

The PNC/R, however, said the funeral procession was orderly and incident free up to Buxton and required minimum intervention from the Police.

It said the funeral service at the church in Buxton was almost at its end when there were sounds of gunfire from the direction of the Vigilance Police Station.

The party said, "it was clear that the activities which were transpiring had nothing to do with the PNC/R programme."

It said it has been able to confirm that "somewhere in the vicinity of the Vigilance Police Station someone in a small crowd released some firecrackers".

It claimed that this was "greeted by the firing of live rounds into the crowd by the contingent of Police."

The PNC/R said a young man was shot on the road and this caused "a great deal of unease, anxiety and anger among the congregation".

The party said it found it alarming that the Police did not consider it necessary or advisable to alert any PNC/R official of any concerns they had about crowd behaviour.

It said it was also surprised that after a day free of incidents the Police blocked the road on both sides of Buxton when the funeral service was being held, creating "unnecessary confusion" in the vicinity and along the entire East Coast road.

It charged that the deployment of members of the Tactical Service Unit in the area "generated tension and unease". It also alleged that there was "a deliberate plan" to create the disruption of its programme.

It said it had condemned violence in the past and does so again.

The main Opposition party also condemned "certain unknown elements that sought to capitalise on its mobilisation to distribute, during the procession, a pamphlet entitled Shaka Lives. It said it had nothing to do with the pamphlet.

Following the upsurge of violence during the funeral procession Monday afternoon, Police Tuesday reported that the village was "relatively quiet, with peace and order eventually restored, especially along the main road where vehicular traffic is proceeding freely".

Temporary repairs were done by the Police late Tuesday night on two parts of the road dug up by persons and Police mobile patrols were being maintained in the area yesterday.