Nation's first terror trial to feature Muslim leader
Trinidad's first ever terrorism trial will feature a familiar defendant -- a former coup leader recently acquitted of conspiracy to murder.
BY BAZ DREISIGER
Special to The Miami Herald
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - On this sun-drenched Caribbean island, December is a time of anticipation: Christmas is around the corner, and carnival season is newly under way. But this year, Trinidadians also anticipate another event: the first terrorism trial in this nation's history. The trial, scheduled for next month, targets Muslim leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, who in 1990 led 113 members of his organization, the Jamaat al Muslimeen, in the Western Hemisphere's lone Islamic revolt -- a six-day coup attempt during which 24 people were killed.
Abu Bakr, 65, lately has been enmeshed in a string of public controversies. He was exonerated this month after a dramatic murder conspiracy trial, and his sworn claims about covert deals he made with Trinidad's prime minister have created a stir.
But his coming trial might be his most high-profile one: he is charged with incitement, sedition and terrorism, stemming from comments he made last year.
The trial has thrust Abu Bakr again into the spotlight in Trinidad and Tobago -- a twin-island nation of 1.3 million people nearly evenly split between descendants of African slaves and East Indian indentured servants.
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Pertinent Links:
1) Nation's first terror trial to feature Muslim leader
Sunday, December 24, 2006
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