Realterror News Articles

Monday, 04 June 2007

Guyana shocked by charges

The Guyana Government and its people were on Saturday shocked by the unraveling of a major terror plot targeting the hub of United States air travel, the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in Queens, New York. The plot involved JFK cargo worker, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen and native of Guyana, along with Abdul Kadir, a former Member of Parliament in Guyana, Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, and Abdel Nur.

“The Government of Guyana is in receipt of the shocking news,” Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee said on national television Saturday morning.

Kadir, a chemical engineer, is a member of the main opposition party in Guyana, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), serving as MP between 2001 and 2006. He was also a former Mayor of Linden, a small mining town. He was born, Michael Seaforth, in Buxton, a small Afro-Guyanese community. His father, Victor Seaforth, said that his son has never expressed terrorist motives, stating that there must be some mistake by US authorities.

DUMBFOUNDED

Kadir’s colleagues are dumbfounded by his arrest in Trinidad and Tobago for allegedly planning the attack.

Like many other Guyanese, many of the PNCR Executive members were made aware of Kadir’s alleged involvement in the plot from CNN reports gleaned from television screens early yesterday morning. For others, they became aware during the churn out of telephone calls following the television broadcasts.

Party Leader, Robert Corbin said that apart from the television reports, details are hazy and as such he could not comment much on what had transpired. He described Kadir as an outstanding member of the Linden community.

According to Corbin, Kadir is still an active member of the party, and he could not recall him ever being involved in any shady activities.

“The news has come as a shock and surprise to me,” Corbin stated. He said that Kadir was a devout Muslim with links to many Muslim organisations, which would provide funding for him to undertake humanitarian work in Linden. Another colleague, PNCR General Secretary, Oscar Clarke, said Kadir was not a frontline member of the party, but someone who quietly went about his work.

Clarke related that he knows Kadir as a party member and as an educated engineer, who at one time studied in Iran.

“I don’t know him beyond that…I would be surprised to know that he is found guilty because he never came across as somebody who would be involved in terrorist activity,” Clarke said.

He recalled that Kadir was selected to serve as a member of the Eighth Parliament because it was felt that he could contribute to national development.

It was the T&T authorities who decided to pull the plug on the plot because they grew increasingly nervous at the pace at which the plotters were proceeding. Kadir’s family maintains that he had no problems with the US and his arrest came as a shock to them.

TARGETED BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH

Ishra Kadir, wife of 55-year-old Abdul Kadir, said that the family had no ties to Al Qaeda and certainly no plans to target the US.

“My entire family is shocked because we are not part of these things we are Shi’ites muslims and I know my husband is a decent, devoted intelligent Muslim…My husband was targeted because of his Muslim faith,” Mrs. Kadir said.

Kadir was in T&T on his way to Venezuela to get a visa to travel to Iran to attend an Islamic conference and is adamant that he is being falsely accused.

An indictment filed on June 2, alleges that former JFK cargo worker, Russell Defreitas, a US citizen and native of Guyana, along with Abdul Kadir of Guyana, Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, and Abdel Nur, planned and conspired to plant explosives to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and a pipeline that supplies JKF Airport, La Guardia Airport and Newark Liberty Airport. This targeted pipeline runs through a residential neighborhood in Queens, New York and also passes through parts of New Jersey to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Russell Defreitas, was arrested in Brooklyn on Friday Night. Abdul and Ibrahim face extradition to the US, following a court hearing today in T&T. Abdel Nur is apparently still at large and believed to be in Guyana.

PARTNER IN FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL TERRORISM

Following the shocking revelation, the Government of Guyana on Saturday stated that it is a partner in the fight against global terrorism and will cooperate will all countries in pursuance of this objective.

“The Government of Guyana is a partner in the fight against global terrorism and will cooperate will all countries in pursuance of this objective,” the government stated.

According to the statement, this latest development brings into sharper focus the need for greater cooperation among countries in the fight against international terrorism.