Yellowknife (Sep 10/03) - Yellowknife RCMP searching for the suspect in a downtown stabbing aren't getting any help from the victim.

The man, who wasn't seriously injured, refused to co-operate with police after being stabbed once in the back outside of the Gold Range Thursday.

"He really didn't want to tell us anything,"said RCMP Sgt. Steve McVarnock.

"Unfortunately, there were no other witnesses. So basically, there's not much we can do if he doesn't want to talk."

McVarnock said the man was stabbed early in the afternoon, just outside of the entrance to the Gold Range. When police arrived on the scene, the victim was lying on the ground and the back of his shirt was covered in blood.

He was transferred to the Stanton Regional Hospital and released a short time later.

McVarnock said the victim was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident. When police questioned him later in the day, the man refused to answer their questions.

Police aren't sure why the victim was stabbed, but McVarnock said it may have been as a result of a drunken argument.

"As is often the case in this city, alcohol played a role in this incident," he said.