Amarr overreaction ‘no surprise,’ says Matari Parliament head

Head of Republic Parliament Malaetu Shakor yesterday commented on the Amarr Empire’s reactions to Matari splinter group attacks in the Bleak Lands these past weeks, calling the Amarrians’ response a gross overreaction, but an unsurprising one.

In an interview with news outlet The Scope, Shakor expressed his belief that Imperial Chamberlain Dokuta Karsoth’s hand had been “forced by egotism” into “doing whatever was necessary to salvage the Bleak Lands situation.” This is in reference to the steady ramping up of forces within the Bleak Lands areas within the past week, a move widely believed to be in response to a recent deluge of media reports about Karsoth’s lack of control over the Amarr Navy, which peaked with the destruction of an Amarrian battlestation roughly three weeks ago.

The party responsible for most of the attacks is a radical organization known as the Defiants, a Matari splinter group composed of ex-Republic Fleet personnel and led by much-decorated ex-Republic Fleet Captain Karishal Muritor. The group has reportedly been pushed back from the Bleak Lands after a large influx of Amarrian forces to the area resulted in significant skirmish losses for them.

Chamberlain Karsoth, meanwhile, has been exerting a great deal of diplomatic pressure on the Republic to rein in these undesirable elements. Accusations of Republic funding have repeatedly entered the discussion, with the Republic issuing vigorous denials every time.

Inside sources confirm that relations between the two nations are at a lower point than they have been at for a long time.

“There’s definitely a chill in the air,” stated a top-level Matari aide who wished to remain anonymous. “They [the Chamberlain’s representatives] are so dead-set on our guilt that they seem unwilling to listen to reason.”

Commenting on the situation, Shakor said, “Even though I have a great deal of personal sympathy with the cause of my old friend Muritor, I cannot say I see the sense – diplomatic or military - in our Republic endorsing these raids. As our spokesmen have already stated on numerous occasions, the Republic Fleet has dismissed all of these personnel long ago. Any speculation that they are linked to us at this point in time is tenuous at best.”