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August 6, 2006
Trinidad: Special Report: Caribbean Jihad
11 days ago, on July 27, Trinidad and Tobago saw the 16th anniversary of the plot by the Islamist group Jamaat al-Muslimeen to take over the country. There was little celebration at the anniversary, just a few sober articles in Trindad's media, detailing what changes, if any, have happened in the social circumstances which led to the coup.
The leader of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen was, and still is, Yasin Abu Bakr (pictured). He was born Lennox Phillips in 1942, educated in Canada, a former policeman and convert to Islam. He has four wives, and various offspring. We have reported extensively on the trials and legal battles of Bakr, who is now walking around freely. He had been in prison custody since he was arrested on November 7 last year, after he made a sermon on November 4 at his mosque in Mucurapo Rd, Port of Spain. In this sermon, celebrating Eid ul Fitr (the end of Ramadan) and which was broadcast on television, Bakr threatened "bloodshed and war" if his group did not get substantial tithes called zakat.
He was charged on November 10 with incitement, sedition and extortion, and on November 22 he was additionally charged with terrorism. After his arrest, army and police bulldozed his office at the Jamaat compound and found a rifle, 500 rounds of ammunition and a hand grenade.
He will be appearing in court on October 2 to face these charges. In November he will be having an additional trial, a re-run of a case which had foundered on March 16, 2005, after going on for two and a half months. He was then accused of conspiracy to murder two members of his group, Salim "Small Salim" Rasheed and Zaki Aubaidah on June 4, 2003. Zaki Aubaidah is his son-in-law.
The nine-person jury failed to reach a verdict. Bakr was co-charged with six other members of the Jamaat in the conspiracy case. One of these, David "Buffy" Millard, also known as Mustapha Abdullah Muhammad, has several other charges hanging over him, described later.
As well as the conspiracy charge, Bakr has been fighting a government attempt to have him pay back at least $32 million, which was ordered as a lesser amount on September 16, 1996, as punitive costs for his mounting the 1990 coup. Because Bakr and the Jamaat have paid nothing since that ruling, interest has accumulated at a rate of $6,480.30 per day.
Bakr has been arguing that the current government of Patrick Manning and the People's National Movement (PNM) had made a private deal to waive the costs, in exchange for the Jamaat acting to "encourage" people in various communities to vote for the party, and to prevent unrest during the 2002 elections which brought the PNM to power.
The Coup of Friday 27 July 1990
The events of the coup began with a bomb, set off at the St Clair national police headquarters in Port of Spain. Several people died in the initial explosion and subsequent fire. The police fled from the building.
The Jamaat comprised 114 footsoldiers, mostly Afro-Caribbeans, armed with guns. They were split into two groups, one led by Yasin Abu Bakr, and one led by Bilaal Abdullah, the second in command of the group.
The police station lay in front of the Red House, the parliament of Trinidad. Abdullah's group went into the Red House, and Bakr went on to invade TTT, the national television station.
What made it easier for the group to gather without causing suspicion was the fact that the Jamaat members were officially holding a demonstration outside the Red House, while the parliament was in session, allowing them to gather without suspicion.
The parliament which was in session was held hostage.
Bakr broke into the TV station and that evening at 7 pm, with a regular TV journalist, Jones Madeira, sitting beside him, the head of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen announced to the nation that he had taken power, and asked for public support.
Around midnight, the army managed to stop TTT from broadcasting, but it would be five more days before the drama had officially ended. TV staff and journalists and the members of parliament were held hostage at gunpoint, and the police seemed unable to comprehend how to respond. During this state of chaos, looters went on the rampage.
There had been an earlier coup attempt in 1970, part of a popular uprising, helped in part by sections of the military. The police were criticised for their poor handling of that situation, but did not learn lessons to deal with an unpopular uprising.
The government was not well-liked, but Jamaat was never a popular group, being the smallest of the religious groups on Trinidad and Tobago. Of a population of 1.1 million, only about 15% of the demographic was Muslim. The vast majority of these were of Indian/Asian descent, and were often targets for abuse and hostility from Jamaat.
On Tuesday, August 1, Arthur N Robinson was released, and the following day, all the remaining hostages were set free. At 2.15 pm. the Muslimeen officially surrendered at the Red House, and shortly afterwards at the TV and Radio Station. Yasin Abu Bashir is shown above, being arrested after his surrender.
Prime Minister ANR Robinson and Attorney General Selwyn Richardson had been shot and wounded. The Prime Minister's bravery had been noted - while surrounded by armed men, he had shouted out for the army to "attack with full force" against the insurgents, and had consequently been shot in the leg.
The Deputy Prime Minister at that time was Winston Dookeran, who was also Planning and Development Minister in the NAR government. He told the Trinidad Express that the prime minister had only arrived back in parliament that afternoon, having been in Tobago. "I was shocked! I had never thought that there could be this kind of attack on the Government in this country. From there, it was chaos."
The government and opposition had guns pointed at their heads. Many were tied up. "I had actually accepted the possibility that I was going to die and most of my thoughts were on my family, my wife and son."
Robinson was shot soon after the Jamaat had entered. One of the rebels asked Dookeran what his role was, and he said he was Planning and Development Minister. The Jamaat man said: "I bet you didn't plan for this."
Dookeran became the mediator between the two sides, and at 6 am the next morning (Saturday), he left parliament carrying the Jamaat's "Terms & Agreements". He consulted with the then-US ambassador, Charles Gargano who offered help and hostage and crisis management expertise from the US.
Dookeran states: "Now, 16 years later, we have learned nothing from it. What of the students of the future, even the present. This was an historic moment for us and it should be studied."
24 people died as a result of the coup, and a bizarre legal battle followed. Bakr and 114 followers from the Jamaat were first offered a prime ministerial pardon from Robinson (who was reelected in September 1990), which was then retracted, and after standing trial, the case against Jamaat al-Muslimeen was abandoned.
Apart from time spent in custody, the only official punitive action taken against Bakr was the fine imposed in September 1996, which has been ignored.
The Bombs of 2005
Last year, there were a series of four bombs set off, in and around the capital, Port of Spain. The first went off on July 12, hidden in a rubbish bin a few blocks from parliament at 2 pm local time. Thirteen people were injured, two of them critically.
The last bomb happened at a nightclub in St James, a suburb of the capital, on October 14. Ten people were injured.
As a result, Yasin Abu Bakr was taken into custody, along with other members of his Jamaat compound in Muracapo Road. The others were released shortly afterwards, but Bakr was detained until Sunday October 16.
Shortly before the fourth bomb, the FBI had given an alert that a bombing was imminent.
Other groups who are related in part to Jamaat al-Muslimeen on Trinidad are: Waajihatul Islaamiyyah (the Islamic Front), who support Osama bin Laden, Jama'at al Muslimeen (JAM) and the Jamaat al Murabiteen. The Waajihatul Islaamiyyah wish to set up an Islamic nation in Trinidad under Sharia, and have stated in press releases: "With our weapons we are going reach you. We will reach you where you sleep, we will reach you where you take your baths, we will reach you where you take your meals and have your drinks, and even a glass of water you hold in your hand to drink may not be safe."
After his release, Bakr declared his innocence, and threatened to sue the police, even though they had acted "professionally". Bakr claimed that was the victim of a conspiracy on the part of enemies from "a certain political group" who conspired to have him arrested, and asserted that the recent bombings were racially motivated. He had, he claimed, a description of the bomber, but would not reveal details, as he said that would prevent him catching the suspect himself, using his organisation's "intelligence" to track the person down.
Less than a month later, Bakr was arrested for his infamous Eid ul Fitr speech, where he demanded that rich Muslims should give him money in the form of donations. The "rich Muslims" were widely seen to be the East Asian Muslim community.
On November 19, shortly before Bakr was charged with terrorism, another man with links to the Jamaal al-Muslimeen was arrested, suspected of carrying out the 2005 bombings. 66-year old Lenville Small had an elder brother Clive Lancelot Small (aka Olive Enyahooma-El) who is a member of Jamaat. The brother is currently serving a 211 month sentence in the United States after being convicted of gun-trafficking.
70 year old Lancelot Small had been sentenced on August 2005 for conspiring to import into Trinidad and Tobago sixty AK-47 assault rifles, and ten Mac-10 machine guns with silencers. Lenville Small was found with a list, bearing the names of those who helped to send his brother to jail.
Lenville Small was eventually released on November 30, with no charges made. He protested his innocence.
But if there was any doubt that Jamaat were involved with bomb-making, it was dispelled on Friday 23 December, when a raid on the house of two Jamaat members discovered a large bomb, which had wires, antennae and timers, being packaged by the two at the time of the swoop.
Two plane tickets were found at the rented address in Arima, 10 miles east of Port of Spain. Police received a tip-off that the two men, aged 31 and 32, were planning to set off the device before fleeing. Police did not reveal the men's destination.
Murders
On January 2, in an area of Port of Spain known as Hellyard, a member of the Jamaat, who had taken part in the 1990 coup, was found murdered. Andre "Baldhead" Bynoe, aka Rasheed Abdul Karim, had been "well known to police". He had trained in Libya, and had been caught in possession of an AK 47 assault rifle in 1992. He acted as a "minder" at a building project site. Before the murder, the site had thousands of dollars of equipment stolen, and ransom demands had been made. Bynoe had been shot five times.
His murder was soon followed by that of 18-year old Zaffir Ali, son of Hassan Ali, a prominent imam from Jamaat al Muslimeen, on 17 February. He was shot in his car in La Horquetta, Arima. His father did not want revenge actions, as it may have provoked more retaliation from the G-Unit gang, who were thought to have shot Zaffir.
Despite his father's comment, a police officer noted that the murder had not been reported straight away. He said: ""We get a sense that they did not want the police involved, that they wanted to handle the matter themselves because no one made any report to the La Horquetta Station."
Many on Trinidad believe that the Jamaat al Muslimeen is connected with the recent soaring of violence on Trinidad and Tobago. Last year, 380 people were killed, and 70 were kidnapped for ransom on the islands. The group has been involved with attempting to muscle in on businesses, such as illegal mining activities in quarries in the Valencia and Wallerfield areas, though Jamaat has denied this.
However they did at one stage claim that they "inherited" a lease giving them the rights to mine in the midst of a boom in the construction sector which has fueled a demand for aggregate making quarrying a highly lucrative industry.
The Jamaat is said to have many links with a scheme called the Unemployment Relief Programme which is officially designated to create employment, but has long been associated with political patronage and corruption.
The government, which had previously courted Jamaat in its 2002 election campaign, offered as a reward land, adjacent to the Mucurapo Rd compound. Public opposition caused the offer to be withdrawn.
The escalation of crime in Trinidad and Tobago has threatened the country's tourist industry, and in March, Patrick Manning's People's National Movement ordered a crackdown on the group.
It was thought that Yasin Abu Bakr would be in custody until his trial on October 2, but on July 13, Bakr appeared in court in the capital, arguing for bail to be granted. The following day he was allowed to leave jail. The terms of the bail conditions are not known.
On April 22, the Agriculture Minister of Guyana, Satyadeow Sawh, was gunned down at his home. With him were also killed his brother Rajpat, his sister, Phulmattie Persaud and security guard Curtis Robertson, as well as a dog. The minister was on the verandah with others in his retinue, when his brother Omprakash who was in the kitchen, noticed gunmen in the garden. He alerted his brothers and sister, but they had little time to escape. Satyadeow was shot on the verandah. Phulamattie (Julie) tried to hide under a bed but she was shot there, despite Omprakash's pleas for her to be spared.
Omprakash gave two masked men inside the house $23,000, as well as a camera and a wristwatch. He was then told to lie on top of his brother Rajpat. Then he himself was shot in his left side and his hip. Rajpat was still alive, Omprakash recalled. But as the men appeared to be leaving, they shot Rajpat in the head. "I heard the shooo. You know, the blood coming out."
Curtis Robertson, the guard who was shot on the verandah, was aged 37 and left a wife and seven children. Satyadeow's wife, Sattie, managed to escape with her life.
The Guyanese Agriculture Minister was buried with his favourite hammock and was mourned by politicians and civilians alike. No-one could understand why the popular Minister, who had spent time in Canada while the Forbes Burnham government was in power, had been killed so brutally. Satyadeow was a Hindu, but Guyana's Muslim and Hindu populations, who share the same Indian ancestry have good relations with each other.
The South Asian descent population are about 51% of Guyana's demographic, and Muslims comprise about 15% of the entire population. Following the massacre, four Islamic groups paid their respects to Sawh, and condemned the assassination.
Now, according to the Trinidad & Tobago Express, a suspect is being interrogated by police in Guyana. He is David Millard, aka Buffy, a lieutenant in the notorious Trinidadian Islamist group, Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, which staged an attempted coup on Trinidad in 1990, during which 24 people were killed. Millard, who is also known as Mustapha Abdullah Muhammad, was arrested by a combined US FBI and Guyanese police team on Tuesday.
Despite his history, Millard had been given a cabinet-appointed post in the National Housing Authority. He fled Trinidad in 2003, after arrest warrants were made out in his name.
Millard (pictured) was wanted for the murder of Jilla Bowen in June 2003 and for the attempted murder of Salim Rasheed and Adel Ghany. Jillia Bowen had been shot in the head.
Millard, who was arrested in a house in a suburb of Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, initially told his captors that his name was Edmund de Frietas. He was arrested with another Trinidadian called Joseph Aboud, and four Guyanese, two of them women.
His fingerprints were sent to Trinidad, where it was confirmed that he was David Millard. Millard had initially claimed that he was a US citizen who had served in the US army. He did serve in the US army, but was deported.
He was questioned about the murders of Satyadeo Sawh and his household. Apparently he had hired lawyers to block his extraditon to Trinidad.
Millard was extradited from Guyana, and on May 8 he said via his attorney that he wanted to remain in jail, rather than be given bail. Millard had been programme coordinator at the National Housing Authority and because of his position "animosity" could have been created between him and some employees.
However, he changed his mind on May 9 and requested bail. This was not granted. However, the director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson promised that there would be an "expeditious completion" of the preliminary inquiry before the trial.
On May 7, he had been charged with the murder conspiracy charge, of which Abu Bakr is also to face trial separately.
On Monday July 24, Millard was charged with murder. It is alleged that on June 4, 2003, at the MovieTowne cineplex at Invader's Bay, Mucurapo, he murdered Jilla Bowen. He is also charged with the attempted murder of of Salim Rasheed and Adel Ghany, who were also shot outside the Movie Towne cinema.
To be continued...
UPDATE: September 10: On Monday September 4, Millard appeared in Port of Spain's Eighth Court. The judge, Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls ordered that Millard should have the preliminary hearing in his trial for conspiracy to murder on Tuesday, 12 September.
For some reason Millard's attorney, Evans Welch, did not attend Monday's court hearing.
Millard had been a leading member of the group of Jamaat al-Muslimeen activists who had held the government hostage in the attempted coup of 1990.
Millard's case is being held separately to that of Yasin Abu Bakr, (which is scheduled for October 2), as he was not in the country for the trial last year, and his trial now involves the charges of murder and attempted murder.
The Jamaat al-Muslimeen is a notoriously violent group, and its members, as we mentioned above, have been linked with gangland killings, both as perpetrators and as victims.
The most recent case of such a killing took place on Tuesday August 22. A former member of the Jamaat, Roger Bridgeman, also known as "Black Roger", was ambushed while driving his pearl white Nissan Almera car.
He was shot several times, and slumped at the wheel, as the vehicle careered into a wall. He had an illegal gun in his possession, and he had fired it during the ambush, but it is not known if any of its bullets hit their targets. Police did not suggest a motive for his murder.
41-year old Bridgeman had left the Jamaat (a crime in the group's eyes) but was awaiting trial on kidnapping charges. It is alleged that on May 1 2005, he and a police constable and another individual kidnapped a Venezuelan national, Michelle Aravello.
When Bridgeman had been a senior leader within the Jamaat, he was the victim of a gun assault in November 2003. His car had been stopped in Arima, and he had been shot four times.
In July, Bridgeman, a father of six, was shot again, this time by a teenager riding a bicycle. He was at his home in La Horquetta when he heard someone calling out his son's name. When he went outside, he was shot at several times. One bullet hit him in the buttocks. While he was in Port of Spain General Hospital, Bridgeman had hired a 24 hour security team to protect him from further attack.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 6, 2006 11:54 PM
Comments
this story is very exquisite due to the fact that abu-bakr did this and was set free.........damn!!!
Posted by: nikkirony4eva ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 16, 2007 1:59 PM
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