A week ago, who would have thought that out simple, happy-go-lucky countries of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago would have been plunged into the deep throes of a mystery of conspiracy, plots, intrigue, FBI undercover and deadly geriatric wanna-be terrorists.
Maybe, John Grisham might have given himself a self-inflicted kick, not having the literary creativity or imagination to conjure up a plot as thick as the one that is being perpetuated to the world by the FBI with the protagonists being some grand-fatherly type Muslim men who were conspiring to blow up fuel lines in the hope of killing thousands of Americans.
Needless to say, the alleged involvement of our nationals in an alleged plot in New York has taken many of us by surprise. It has shocked us, left us in awe and sending ripples of disbelief ever time we turn on our televisions, to hear CNN, FOX and the domestic networks in the US reporting on the suspected terrorists from the Caribbean.
So, it was with much suspense that I sat in the Port of Spain Eighth Magistrate’s Court along with local, regional and international journalists and scores of Muslim-outfitted men and women awaiting the arrival of 56-year old Guyanese Abdul Kadir and 62-year old Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, friends of over two decades, into the prisoner’s dock.
As soon as the court cleared a case where a drug trafficking suspect agreed to be extradited and be tried before a US court, Chief Magistrate Sherman McNichols called for Kadir and Ibrahim to be brought into the prisoner’s dock.
And there before me, were the two suspected terrorists – two elderly men, bound together by a pair of silver handcuffs.
To me, they looked like they couldn’t harm a fly. Then came the reading of that very serious charge that they were accused of conspiring to commit a terrorist act in the US.
Nah, couldn’t be, was my initial thought. Who? these men. They look nothing like that scary Bin Ladin guy who, if alive, may be hiding out in one of the caves in the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan.
But then again, I’m hardly an expert on terrorism or terrorists so who I am to judge anyone.
In the court, Kadir, wearing a cream-coloured shirt-jack and matching pants stood before straight and tall before the magistrate. No signs of emotions, no cowering, just a certain calm over him as though he has put this whole thing in the hands of God.
Also wearing cream-coloured muslim outfit including cap was Ibrahim, short in stature who looked a wee bit confused about his presence in the court as he tried to communicate with attorney Rajiv Persad, one of his defence lawyers.
With the formalities over, Kadir and Ibrahim were taken out the court, awaiting their transportation to the Remand Yard.
Outside the court house, dozens of television cameras and photographers tried to squeeze into the small spaces that would allow them to capture the two men being led into a heavily dark-tinted van.
Half an hour later, Kadir and Ibrahim, still calm and showing no outward emotion made their way down to the van, accompanied by police officers, as the cameras zoomed in on them.
Curious on-lookers shook their heads seeing the two so-called terrorists who made the international news.
Many expressed doubt that they could be terrorists…but they conceded…you never know…
A day later, more drama as Guyanese national Abdel Nur surrendered to the police after he was confronted by the person living next door to the house where he was staying in Deigo Martin in the Western region as the person whose picture was splashed all over the newspapers and on televisions.
In comparison to Kadir and Ibrahim, Nur, in his over-sized T-shirt and a huge grin on his face actually seemed to have been enjoying being the centre of attention of the throngs of television cameras and photographers.
And with him being the focus of all, he took the opportunity to let each and everyone know that he was “set up.”
Later, in the court, he told the Magistrate that he was too poor to afford a lawyer and it was agreed that he would be given legal aid by the state.
While his case was taking place in the court, Ibrahim’s 21-year old daughter Huda was bringing a joint statement to the media on behalf of the Imam-e-Zamana Mission and the Guyana Islamic Information Centre.
According to Huda, the groups believe the persons responsible for the arrest of Kadir and Ibrahim did so to shore up a “lame duck” presidency with the aim of helping to increase the chances of the US Republican party being returned to power in November 2008.
” Unfortunately, innocent persons, with no connection whatsoever to the political and military disputes between the US and the Middle East, save and except that we are Muslims, have been used as pawns in an international game of subterfuge to further the interests of the Republican party,” according to Huda, the picture of simplicity and femininity in her hijab.
Some more details about Kadir emerged: A civil engineer by training, he has never travelled to the US but as a Shia Muslim, travelled to Iran on more than one occasions and was on his way to the Iranian Embassy in Caracas for a visa when he was arrested. As Shia Muslims, they are attracted to Iran, the religious and cultural centre of Shia Islam.
Ibrahim, converted to Islam at the age of 21, visited the US three times and have not travelled by air since 1979 after a visit to Guyana because he was seriously claustrophobic, a phobia that prevents him from performing Hajj to the Holy City of Mecca.
According to Huda, Ibrahim did not know Russell De Freitas, the Guyanese national, the alleged mastermind of the plot who was arrested in the US on terrorism charges nor Nur whom he met for the first time three weeks ago when they visited his home.
Kadir also met De Freitas earlier this year for the first time when he visited Guyana.
As the extradition proceedings get going in the coming weeks, more details will emerge on this so-called plot which US authorities claim would have had more serious consequences than the 9/11 disaster of the World Trade Centre where over 3,000 people including many Caribbean nationals died.
We will also hear about Terry De Souza, a US citizen, a convicted drug dealer who was offered a reduced sentence in his latest drug dealing conviction in exchange for going under-cover, part of which was befriending De Freitas.
Huda makes it clear that De Souza, who called himself Anas bin Naddar visited the “brothers” with the specific intent to entrap them in activities “they know nothing about, never agreed to and did not participate in.”
And as the extradition proceedings continue on, I hope all of us would remember that these four Caribbean nationals are innocent until proven guilty by a court of the law, despite the current labels that the US have placed on them.
Given what is happening, practically every other month where the US is claiming some terrorist plot, I intend to have an open mind on this one.
