POLICE IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: TO CHARGE 6 WITH DANA SEETAHAL’S MURDER: POSSIBLY LINKED TO “TRINIDADS AL-QAEDA”.

Center Yasin Abu Bakr.

A man in prison custody on the oil-rich island of Trinidad is assisting police with details into the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal. Police investigator’s claim to be in possession of, “key” information concerning the details of her murder. The man is linked to an east Trinidad mosque.

  Islamist elements of the Sunni variety have been waging a war on many, fronts targeting individuals and even politicians and members of the legal professions like Seetahal. In the Senate, during a sitting in November 2008, Senator Dana Seetahal observed. “Something is seriously wrong in the URP. I have stood up here before and asked that it be closed down because, in my view, it breeds criminals.  I have spoken to people employed in the URP and even those people say that it should be closed down.  One such person tells me that he earns a certain amount, he does not work, he signs on and he gives one-quarter of his income to the person who authorises the payment.  And that is going on all the time. If a man like Mark Guerra. A well-known criminal, could have been in charge of a division of the URP and own vehicles and property and so on, then what is happening with these projects and why are they being allowed to continue without accountability.”  Seetahal was murdered at about 12.05 a.m. on May 4 2014 while driving, her Volkswagen SUV towards her One Woodbrook Place home. Police reported that the incident took place as she was on her way to her apartment after leaving the Ma Pau casino. Seetahal was found slumped over the steering wheel of her Volkswagen Touareg. She had been shot five times and was pronounced dead on the scene.

                       

Fuad Bakr son of Yasin Abu Bakr.

The senator was an outspoken critic of the now defunct “sport life program”, which had been for years co-opted by the Jamāʻat al Muslimeen (JAM) terrorist group, their associates and organizations and individuals, linked to the JAM. The suspect in police custody was also a participant in the defunct Life Sport program, where he earned $1500 dollars a month for participating in the programme, as I will prove using documented evidence said program was a funding agency for criminal, as well as terrorist activity.The commission of enquiry into the coup in Trinidad in 1990 led by Sunni imam Yasin Abu Bakr, yielded many profound facts some of which I will highlight here: “The Commission of Enquiry established by the government of Trinidad and Tobago, as an instrument of establishing factually, the motivations and goals of the perpetrators of the coup. According to the report of March 2014; On Friday, 27 July 1990, armed members of the Jamāʻat al Muslimeen; (the JAM) staged an insurrection in Port of Spain. The insurrectionists were Muslim fundamentalists who claimed to follow the Quran literally. The group launched a three pronged attack led by Abu Bakr, Bilaal Abdullah and Jamaal Shabazz. One group blew up the Headquarters of the Police Service on St. Vincent Street, murdering in the process a young Police Officer, Solomon McLeod.  Another group, led by Mr. Bilaal Abdullah, invaded the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago while it was in session. The terrorists held most of the parliamentarian’s hostage who were present.   The group of armed men, led by the leader of the JAM, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr (Abu Bakr) invaded Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), held the staff hostage and assumed control of broadcasts. The third group led by Jamaal Shabazz stormed radio Trinidad and held its staff hostage. 27 July to 1 August 1990, the JAM held hostage the Parliamentarians and the staff at TTT.  In the Parliamentary Chamber at “the Red House”, the Prime Minister, Hon. A.N.R. Robinson, six members of the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago and ten other Members of Parliament (MPs) were held hostage. The Prime Minister and the Minister of National Security, Hon. Selwyn Richardson, were shot in their legs after being badly beaten; several other MP’s were bound and beaten. When questioned by the Commission about his views on the possible goals of the Jihadist’s, Robinson said: His view was the JAM were anxious to remove his Government and obtain power – “because of the programmes that the NAR Government was pursuing and which, if successful, would have led to a lengthy stay of that Government in power.”

MP Leo des Vignes who was shot subsequently died of his wounds. Two employees of Radio Trinidad, Mr. Pius Mason and Mr. Emmett Hennessy, were shot and required hospitalization.  Mr. Mason’s injuries were life- threatening whereas Mr. Emmett Hennessy was discharged from the General Hospital on 28 July. The entire police force was effectively destabilized and police personnel were severely demoralized, that they put up little to no resistance during the attack on police headquarters in the capital Port of Spain. From early on the evening of July 27^th throughout the night mobs looted parts of Port of Spain and its environs. They set fire to buildings in downtown Port of Spain; there was wanton looting and a general feeling of unrest. The report cited the exact date that saw the ending of the siege as August the first 1990. A hundred and thirteen members of the JAM surrendered to the TNT military and security forces, discussions for an amnesty were already agreed upon from July 27^th. The actual amnesty itself was predicated upon the condition that the JAM were to release all hostages the JAM did release all hostages, but the amnesty agreement itself was brokered using the threat of death to prominent MP’s and at times the then Prime Minister A.R. Robinson. The Commission of enquiry reported that as pertains to the matter of Imam Abu Bakr’s refusal to testify before the commission the following: “But it is a matter of much regret that neither Mr (Bilaal) nor Imam Abu Bakr gave evidence to this Commission of Enquiry.  We were given to understand that Bilaal now resides in the People’s Republic of China. Despite the efforts of Instructing Attorney-at-Law to the Commission, no contact was made with Bilaal.

The popularity of the JAM amongst poverty stricken and disenfranchised young men was as a result of their ability, to offer, food, shelter, clothing, education and income, when the Social Welfare Services of the government failed to do so. The Commission reported that, “Young men were excited by the religion, its practices, doctrine and rituals, they looked forward to participating. Many spoke of going to the JAM for help and receiving that help then resultantly staying”. As we have discovered then seeing that the root causes of the rise of terrorism in Trinidad are a regional malaise. The OECS, Caricom and all other regional stakeholders would do well to clamour for change particularly where the young men of the Caribbean are concerned. The increasing gang involvement and the mimickry of their North American cousins. The adaptation of the violent sub culture of Gangsta rap, should serve as a warning to all concerned that it is exactly out of that pool of lumpens that terror organizations would seek to recruit future Jihadist’s. Anyone doubting the possibility of such, aught only to look at Europe and America. The majority of Americans and Europeans going to Syria, Iraq and other trouble spots in the Middle East are from a variety of backgrounds not only the poor and disenfranchised. Young men and increasingly even young women are travelling to the ME, to join jihadist groups. Their motivation in some instances is adventurism, not any true identification with the “Islamic” ideology of those groups. Foreign Policy writer Elias Groll wrote on July 24 2015 that: 

“But other parts of the essay are marked by the author throwing up his (or her) hands at trying to understand how extreme violence and depravity can in fact be appealing to the group’s recruits. Foreign fighters from around the world have joined the group: Norway, Egypt, Tunisia, France, Yemen, and Canada. Whether in wealthy social democracies or poor dictatorships, the Islamic State has managed to find recruits, leading the author to question theories that “social exclusion, poverty, or inequality” drives people to join the group”.

Figure 3. The Islamic State group is the jihadist group with the highest number of Caribbean nationals within its ranks. It is also the group with a fairly large amount of fighters from Trinidad and Tobago, some even with Canadian and American passports.

In the Caribbean context and particularly Trinidad after 1990 the Commission said the following: Former Senior Magistrate George Hislop testified about his experiences and observations after the attempted coup.  He said 1990 sent crime into a different dimension.  “I am sure about it.  There were more firearm and drug crimes after 1990.  Criminals seemed more conscious of their rights they would cite their human and constitutional rights in court.  They became more emboldened.”  “The crime wave began under the PNM.  Abu Bakr invited ‘community leaders’ to meet with Prime Minister Manning.  In truth and in fact, these ‘community leaders’ were really gang leaders.” Several “poverty alleviation programs’, were established by the TNT government after 1990 upon till recent times, all of the programs in question were and still are controlled by gang members who are ran by the JAM. Mister John Humphrey one of many persons called on to testify before the Commission of Enquiry had the following to say: “Prior to Mr. Manning dispensing largesse, there were 30,000 Afro-Trinidadians who refused to register to vote.  Manning was able to buy that constituency.  The programmes were the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) doing special works and CEPEP.  Leaders of the groups did not share the money equitably and used it for personal reasons.  That caused problems within the group there was no accountability for the money, its management or its use.” One Mr Eversley reported that He stated that increases in murder, kidnapping for ransom, firearm crimes, drugs and gang warfare are all attributable to 1990 and the subsequent freeing of the JAM. He testified that “When the JAM were freed by the courts, it was like Carnival.  A large number of people celebrated.  Some of them became big in this country, even holding positions in the Government……After 1990 a gun culture developed in Trinidad and Tobago. One hugely significant point that was raised in the report states that “It is very big business.  We have very high consumption of marijuana in Trinidad.  A lot of it is running uninhibited out of St. Vincent in particular.”  The Sint Vincent trade rivals that out of Jamaica and in many parts of the region it supersedes the trade out of Jamaica. He also explained to the commission how guns enter Trinidad and Tobago. “There is a place called Tucupita and Pedernales in Venezuela, that is, Delta Amacuro State.  Most of our gang leaders don’t speak Spanish so they have to have a translator in Venezuela to negotiate for them.  We were finding out from these guys, who were buying the guns, where they were going and so on. These people are able to access from AK47s to AR15s.  Whatever type of gun they want, they could be accessed out of Venezuela.  That is one of the problems.  Unless we can stem the flow of guns out of Venezuela to the rest of the Caribbean, it will be very difficult to slow down the spate of murders.”In Trinidad there are two routes that weapons come through.  “One is the guns from Venezuela; the other is through appliances out of the U.S.A.” “As a result of certain political changes in Venezuela, the Government had some problems with its military and they decided to form a civilian militia as in Cuba.  They armed the militia.  A lot of guns got lost and they ended up being sold.  So you find that some of the guns we have picked up are weapons that belonged to the Venezuelan army and other units. Another concern was that the Venezuelan Government had purchased over 100,000 Russian weapons and were moving to put their SLRs in storage and they tend to disappear once they go into storage.  So you find that there is an increase in weapons coming into Caribbean countries as a consequence of that situation evolving in Venezuela…..All of that is linked to the post 1990 era when the JAM itself got involved in a lot of illegal activities, including gangs. One of the things they got involved in was kidnapping and extortion.  This came about as a result of the death of Dole Chadee and his gang.” The witness continued – “Chadee had laundered large amounts of money in various parts of the country.  The people with whom he had laundered the money, refused to give it to his family so they hired the JAM to get back the money.  And they built skill sets of kidnapping and then they shifted into their own business of doing kidnapping around the country.  They established fiefdoms in various parts of the country such as Laventille and Enterprise.  They established their gangs and had weapons and there were fights between the Muslim gangs and other gangs.  A lot of them were killed.  Some of the bigger names in the JAM did not go and do these things.  It was the underlings who were involved in those issues.  One well-known member of the JAM attended the Mosque in Monroe Road.  Another one was charged not only for kidnapping but also for murder.” The witness acknowledged that some criminals escaped conviction because witnesses were eliminated but, based on information, Intelligence and prosecutions, the witness was absolutely sure that members of the JAM were involved in kidnappings and murder post-1990.  This witness was in no doubt that there is a link between the events of 1990 and contemporary criminality in Trinidad and Tobago. “Today’s criminals are

prepared to kill anybody.  The witness also agreed that deportation of criminals from the USA “brought another level of competence and sophistication to the whole criminal scenario”.  When asked what were the greatest challenges to national security today, the witness said unhesitatingly “the proliferation of drugs and weapons in our country.  And there is the issue of fundamentalists because at this point in time, there is more than just the JAM operating”. “In many instances there would have been persons that were gravitating towards criminality who ended up in the JAM. The criminal element gravitated towards them.”  “Ultimately, there was a criminal base within the JAM and these criminals became ‘untouchables’ within their communities and a criminal subculture developed in Laventille.  Mr. Smith was of the view that the JAM did something positive in attempting to clean up the blocks of cocaine.  They did that “by force” when they identified the pushers in Laventille and elsewhere those pushers who did not comply were beaten. ”.  “Mr. Smith told the Commission that “Laventille has no cocaine baron.  Laventille took care of its own problems since about 1997.  It was because of that cleansing that was perpetrated by the JAM.  They may have had a positive influence and effect in terms of ridding us of the cocaine barons.  The real kingpins have been destroyed but Laventille, unfortunately, still has a stigma.” “There was the creation of these multiple gangs involving persons who moved away from the Muslimeen philosophy in order to profit themselves. The individuals who were chosen by the JAM to wage these anti-drug campaigns became kingpins in their neighbourhoods.”According to Mr. Smith, the JAM “were able to manipulate young men, culminating in the events of 1990”. “The young people who were recruited by the JAM, ostensibly to do similar work to us, but nestled in a religious ideology, were a ready-made cadre of young men, able, willing and obedient to do the exploits of the JAM, that is to say, overthrow the Government.”Mr. Jamaal Shabazz said when questioned by the commission that: One Mervyn Guiseppi testified that the JAM: “From 1982 the JAM had intended to Islamise Trinidad “Abu Bakr and his people said that they intended to transform Trinidad and Tobago into an Islamic State.” Reginald Dumas summed up their intentions similarly as a witness before the Commission of Inquiry: “They wanted to get political power by way of political change down the road they intended to establish an Islamic state”. In an address to 550 Muslims upon his return from Libya Bakr said the NAR government had done nothing in the three years that they had been in power and that: “Allah had decreed that Muslims had to change the system. There is no other time to change but now”. The following are excerpted from oral testimony given by Col. Ralph Brown: “the arms and ammunition used were financed through Saudi Arabia and the money to pay for them was financed through a bank in Florida. Bilal at the time was employed with a secondary school as a physics professor; he handled what even by today’s standards are large amounts of cash on behalf of the JAM. The source of the funds funneled to the JAM was primarily Saudi Arabia and the actual donors were said to be “rich Muslim businessmen”.A number of the JAM “inner executive”, had university degrees some were quite fluent in Arabic, the JAM are not a group of uneducated thugs as many in the media would have people believe. The JAM at present runs according to the available data some of the best schools on Trinidad and Tobago with many of their students considerably outperforming, students in other schools. The very fact that the JAM’ students are amongst the best in Trinidad is testament to the extremely high level of education of some people in the JAM. The image that is being portrayed by the media of the JAM is one of thugs and fanatics, while many are recruited from the criminal element. The JAM was and still is attracting people, from a cross section of society in Trinidad. Falsely reporting about the JAM and down playing their strengths, serves only to give them an advantage in their efforts in Trinidad. Their regional impact will be felt when others begin to copy what they have already achieved, in terms of financial assets, weapons amassment, political power and religious influence in effect a governing body with an Islamic ideology dedicated to the advancement of its own society even if it is detrimental to the larger society.

To substantiate my claims I will give concrete examples. This evidence is sworn testimony presented in 2014, before the Commission of Inquiry, into the coup of 1990. A person who was named, as a key figure, who infiltrated the Unemployment Relief Program (which morphed into the now defunct “Sport Life” program), is Mark Guerra. Guerra was a member of the JAM.  In 1989 he had allegedly shot at the car, carrying the then President’s wife.  After this incident, he went to the USA and became involved in illegal drugs and gangs in Brooklyn.  In 1993 he returned to Trinidad.  He was described as, a “Lieutenant of the Jamāʻat”.

In 1997, according to Mr. Heeralal, “Mark Guerra walked into a URP office, introduced himself as the man who had shot at the car carrying President Hassanali’s wife in 1989 and announced that he wanted ‘two gangs’.Two gangs of 50 ‘ghost’ workers were reportedly promptly surrendered to Guerra.  Five years later, this ‘lieutenant’ of the Jamāʻat al Muslimeen was powerful enough to survive the changing of the political guards when the PNM replaced the UNC in office.”Through the aegis of the URP, Guerra controlled gangs and challenged another criminal, Sean “Bull” Francis, who held high rank in the Port of Spain region of the URP.  In the result, Francis was moved to the Mt. Hope region and Guerra took control of the Port of Spain region in 1998.  By 1999, Guerra was said to be earning approximately $50,000 every fortnight from ‘ghost gang’ money.  A ‘ghost’ worker is one who does no work but receives pay. He did not live long after.  He was murdered in March 2003 and Imam Abu Bakr preached a sermon at his funeral.  At the time of his death, according to Mr. Heeralal, Guerra owned a multi-storeyed house in John John, a seven series BMW, and an SUV.  It is believed that his wealth was acquired through his access to URP funds and his operation of ‘ghost’ gangs. Some of the ‘community leaders’ who had met with Mr. Manning also met violent deaths.  Francis was murdered in 2007 at a time when he held a lucrative sub-contract on a heath facility being constructed in Port of Spain. Herbert John was shot in 2008 while working at a site on which he also had a sub-contract.  Another, Anthony “Thirteen” Des Vignes was shot in 2008. ‘Abdul Malik’ Charles was murdered in 2006 while employed as a URP worker and said to be worth $10 million. In February of 2008 Carmona J testified in open court that: “Some person in authority had stated that there were no criminals in the URP.  I dare say, in fact, that particular statement by the person in authority was a highly delusional statement and totally irresponsible because, not only I, but my other brothers have made the observation time and time again of a lot of criminal activity taking place in the bowels of the URP and that is the stark reality.  Based on matters coming before the courts in the last 18 months, I can tell you that in the bowels of the URP there is rank criminality and the authorities need to address this.” The Jamāʻat al Muslimeen (translated organisation for Muslims), has been intimately involved with Middle Eastern jihadist organisations since its inception, in the early 1980’s. Its leadership are multi-lingual, highly educated, well traveled individuals. Their network includes people from all walks of life and as we now know, many foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq hail from Trinidad, which is no surprise to me. Radical Islam in the Caribbean is the most dangerous, social dynamite waiting to explode regionally, the insistence of the media regionally, in dismissing the JAM as merely a criminal organization will prove detrimental in the long run. The JAM is the Caribbean’s equivalent of al-Qaeda; their adherence is not only Sunni Islam, but also an admixture of Black Nationalist ideology, which can absorb a variety of elements within the region into their fold. While the regional media tend to downplay their reach they are the most combustible regional organization to date and with the recent developments, within the Islamic world regionally of young Muslims from Trinidad and other islands joining the fight in Iraq and Syria on the side of the Islamic State (IS), the situation will rapidly spiral out of control.

In 2003 I wrote in my book: “Rastafari and its Hindu Origins”, that “the Caribbean will feature greatly in the upcoming years as a region that is part of the Arab Israeli question. The island of Trinidad and Tobago has gone unnoticed in international circles as a haven for extremist rhetoric. The attempted coup led by the Jamāʻat leadership is an example of Muslim extremism in the region. The extremist Muslim organization based in Trinidad will prove to be a security threat in the region in recent years to come, the tendency of Arab Muslim extremist organizations to train and finance Muslim extremists in other parts of the world have also proven true in Trinidad and Tobago. The Jamāʻat al- Muslimeen have been linked to kidnappings, extortion, illegal weapons trade, cocaine trafficking, et al.    

The emergence of radical Islamic extremism in the Caribbean is no “mistake”, it is a carefully nurtured characteristic of a wider, Wahabist led regime, that originated in Saudi Arabia. The funding for most of the regions mosques can be traced to Riyadh, the Islamic Call Society being one of the chief financiers regionally. The Sunni-fication of Trinidad and Tobago is being used to influence the rest of the regions “unaware populace”, specifically poor and disenfranchised young males into the fold of Sunni Islam. In Guyana both Shiism and Sunni Islam holds sway. The porous Caribbean borders and endemic poverty regionally, are ideal social malaise for “Islamic Extremism”, to feed off of and to take root regionally. The weak and corrupt governments bolstered by narco-dollars, are simply no match for well trained, traveled, multilingual highly educated and increasingly sophisticated Islamist’s it is only a matter of time, before an Islamic organization successfully challenges anyone of the corrupt regional governments.