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January 3, 2006
Trinidad: Islamic Activist Murdered
Yesterday, Trinidad Express reported on the murder of Andre "Baldhead" Bynoe. Bynoe, aka Rasheed Abdul Karim, was a member of the group Jamaat al Muslimeen. Bynoe was one of the 114 Jamaat members who staged a coup on the island of Trinidad on July 27, 1990. The coup saw twenty four people die as the Islamist group tried to invade the local television station.
Bynoe's murder in a region of the Beetham Gardens in the capital known as Hellyard appears to have been a result of an altercation with thieves. Bynoe was employed as the "security" at a project site, where thousands of dollars of equipment had recently been stolen and ransom demands had been made.
Trained in Libya, Bynoe was shot five times shortly after he left the house of a relative. Only a week after he was released from jail following a reprieve, Bynoe had been caught in possession of an AK 47 assault rifle in 1992. Though his family described him as a "peacemaker", the police said he was "well known to them".
The leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen group, 64 year old Yasin Abu Bakr, remains in jail awaiting the start of his trial, which begins this month, on charges of sedition, terrorism, and three counts of inciting the demand of property, money and breach of the peace. These charges relate to a sermon he made on November 4, 2005.
On 30 December, Pamela Elder SC, Yasin's lead attorney argued at the pre-trial hearing on this case that there is "no case to answer". It took her four hours to explain this. She states that Bakr's statements about "Bloodshed and war" were being taken out of context. If viewed in context of the whole sermon, she argued that it could be seen as a passionate sermon to advise his fellow Muslims to seek peace.
This peace-loving leader is also awaiting trial on another issue entirely. He is charged with conspiring to murder two expelled members of Jamaat al Muslimeen, Zaki Aubaidah and Salim "Small Salim" Rasheed, on June 4, 2003 in Diego Martin. Zaki Aubadiah is Bakr's son-in-law.
Jamaat has been suspected of involvement with a series of bombings in the capital which began in July and continued until September. On Christmas Eve (24 December), police announced that they had discovered a bomb in a house rented by two Jamaat al Muslimeen members. When we covered this story, we also gave a timeline of our reports on the events surrounding Jamaat al Muslimeen, with links
A recent editorial from Trinidad Express, by Andy Johnson covers the main details and background of the bombings of 2005.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 3, 2006 5:36 PM
Comments
You play with fire, you get burned.
How in the world did the Muslims in Trinidad reach to a critical mass of Muslims to be able to stage a coup there? I understand they are descendents of Indian laborers (I'm presupposing here, gleaning from my understanding of British colonization efforts), but to be militant at that?
It's scary when Muslims bring their faith to the Americas, it's scarier yet when the militant strands start to flex their muscles here.
Posted by: Conde ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 3, 2006 7:14 PM
Hi Conde
Even though there is about 9% of the population being Muslim in Trinidad & Tobago, these are, as you surmise, predominantly from Indian sub-continent background.
Jamaat al Muslimeen has some Asian-background members, but it is predominantly an African-origin group, which bears similarities to the views of Elijah Mohamed. Yasin Abu Bakr owns a ceremonial sword given him by Islamist dictator Bashir of Sudan.
As far as I can tell, there are no links between Jamaat al Muslimeen and Asian Muslim groups. Like the Black Muslims and the Nation of Islam, it is pretty much a cult of "personality" which is a fiefdom of Yasin Abu Bakr.
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at January 3, 2006 9:02 PM
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