In 'Little Guyana,' Disbelief Over Terrorism Arrests

Yet another terror plot uncovered...

From the Washington Post:

In the heart of the Queens neighborhood known as Little Guyana, Mohamed Sattaur stood Sunday over his plate of deep-fried cassava, wearing an expression of disbelief. Like many of his neighbors, Sattaur, 46, a Muslim from Guyana, was stunned by the news that men from his country and faith had allegedly plotted to bomb fuel tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"Before this, we got nothing to do with that terrorism," he said in a Caribbean lilt. "I could care less about what happens in the Middle East. We're kind of a peaceful people. . . . Guyanese are not like that."

I guess you are wrong!

One day after federal authorities said they broke up a terrorist plot by radical Muslims from Guyana and from Trinidad and Tobago, many in New York's small but tightly knit Caribbean Muslim community expressed emotions ranging from outrage to disbelief.[snip]

Three men were taken into custody over the weekend by authorities in New York and Trinidad. Russell Defreitas, 63, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Guyana, was arrested in Brooklyn and arraigned Saturday in federal court. Kareem Ibrahim, a Trinidadian, and Abdul Kadir, a former Guyanese parliamentarian and municipal mayor, are being detained in Trinidad while U.S. officials seek their extradition.

A fourth man, Abdel Nur, a Guyanese national of Pakistani descent, is still at large and believed to be in hiding in Trinidad.

In an indictment unsealed Saturday, federal authorities described a 16-month-long surveillance operation centered on Defreitas, a former cargo worker at JFK. He allegedly conducted extensive reconnaissance of the airport and took repeated trips to the Caribbean to conspire with the other men in seeking financing and other assistance.

What seemed more disturbing to observers was the apparent determination of Defreitas to hook up with Islamic radicals abroad and his passion to cause as much damage and loss of life as possible.

The two men arrested in Trinidad are both Shiite Muslim imams, according to media reports from the Caribbean nation. In the federal indictment, the four men are alleged to have sought out the help of Trinidad-based Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM), a Sunni group made up largely of converted Black Muslims.

Those familiar with JAM describe it as part criminal gang, part sect. In addition to staging a failed 1990 coup against Trinidad and Tobago's government, it allegedly has ties to kidnapping, extortion and murder rings. But it has mainly confined activities domestically, leading experts to describe a possible international conspiracy as "out of character."

It appears the patriot act is working, despite it's opponents.

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