NEW YORK, United States, Wednesday June 30, 2010 – A day before he was set to go on trial for being part of a New York airport bomb plot, Guyanese Abdel Nur changed his plea to guilty, leaving two of his co-accused to face the music alone today.
The 60-year-old will have to wait until November 18th to be sentenced for providing material support to terrorism, but the maximum 15 years that judge could impose is a far cry from the life imprisonment Nur would have faced if found guilty at the end of a trial.
Nur’s plea in the Brooklyn, New York court was part of a deal with prosecutors, but there has been no indication that he will testify against the other accused.
Reading from a prepared statement before US District Judge Dora Irizzary yesterday, Nur, who was arrested in 2007, admitted knowing about the plot to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at the John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and admitted that he helped.
“Between November of 2006 and June of 2007, I became aware that individuals whom I had known for an extended period of time were developing a plan that had as its goal the use of an explosive device or material to destroy or extensively damage fuel tanks,†he said.
“I understood the goal of the planning of the destruction of fuel tanks and fuel by planes was to cause major economic loss in the United States,†he added.
Fellow Guyanese and former parliamentarian, Abdul Kadir, 58; and former JFK cargo worker Russell Defreitas, a 66-year-old native of Guyana and US citizen, will go on trial today for their part in the plot, while 59-year-old Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim will have his trial at a later date because he is too ill.
Prosecutors have alleged that beginning in January 2006 and up to the time they were arrested, the four men were planning to blow up the airport. According to the indictment, the plot tapped into an international network of Muslim extremists from the US, Guyana, and Trinidad, and utilized the knowledge, expertise, and contacts of the conspirators to develop and plan the plot, and obtain operational support and capability to carry it out.
For example, it is alleged that as part of the plot, the conspirators dispatched Defreitas from Guyana to conduct video and photo surveillance of JFK airport on four occasions in January 2007. During the surveillance and using his knowledge of airport operations from his prior employment, Defreitas identified targets and escape routes and assessed airport security.
The defendants also obtained satellite photographs of JFK airport and its facilities from the internet and traveled frequently between the United States, Guyana, and Trinidad to discuss their plans and solicit the financial and technical assistance of others, according to court documents.
The men allegedly used their connections to present their terrorist plot to radical groups in South America and the Caribbean, including senior leadership of Jamaat Al Muslimeen, which was responsible for a deadly coup attempt in Trinidad in 1990.
According to prosecutors, an informant working with law enforcement agents began monitoring the plot at its early stages and made numerous recorded conversations with the defendants. In one recorded conversation following one of the surveillance missions to JFK airport, according to the prosecutors, Defreitas predicted that the attacks would result in the destruction of “the whole of Kennedy,†that only a few people would survive the attack, and that because of the location of the targeted fuel pipelines, part of Queens would explode.
In that conversation, Defreitas is reported to have said: “Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow…They love John F Kennedy like he’s the man…If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It’s like you can kill the man twice.â€
Prosecutors claim that in a later recorded conversation with his coconspirators in May 2007, Defreitas compared the plot to attack JFK airport to the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, stating, “even the Twin Towers can’t touch it,†and adding that, “this can destroy the economy of America for some time.â€
As for Kadir, court papers said, he stressed the goal of causing economic damage and suggested minimizing the killing of innocent men and women. In one conversation, Kadir and Defreitas allegedly discussed the need to disable the airport control tower from which airport security monitors the fuel tank locations. Kadir, an engineer by training, explained that the tanks were, most likely, double tanks, requiring two explosions to provide enough oxygen to ignite the fuel inside the inner tank.
If convicted of conspiring to bomb the JFK airport, the men each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
SOURCE: SKN VIBES
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN an effort to promote foreign investment and tourism, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas paid a visit to Victoria and was the guest of honour at a dinner hosted by Todd Axlerod on Sunday, June 27, 2010.
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia (BC), Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from BC’s largest city of Vancouver on the mainland.
According to an article published by Times Colonist, headlined “Caribbean Island leader opens doors for business†dated June 29, 2010, the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis brims with lush scenery and has a rich 500-year history, but has faced challenges from hurricanes to poor harvests.
In promoting the Federation, the online media outlet quoted Dr. Douglas as saying, “We are in the process of transforming our national economy, which for almost four centuries was based on sugar cane. We’re moving into a service economy led by tourism, information technology, banking and light manufacturing.â€
It noted that energy self-sufficiency is one of Douglas’ goals for the Federation and that he is tackling HIV/AIDS with free medical care, as well as spearheading a UN effort to combat diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.
“With the help of the Bank of Nova Scotia we are developing geothermal power to totally replace fossil fuels. St. Kitts and Nevis will be the first totally green country in the world,†he said.
With specific emphasis on tourism, Dr. Douglas spoke of the major hotels in the Federation, the Mandarin chain seeking to build and the numerous smaller inns created from old sugar plantations, which he described as charming.
He also noted that St. Kitts and Nevis “honours privacyâ€, which is why many celebrities holiday here, and that “people can walk around unmolested by the paparazziâ€.
The online media outlet also noted that, in his quest for high-end tourism and investment, “Douglas travelled to Geneva and Zurich last weekâ€. It also informed that after leaving Victoria he would have travelled to Vancouver before returning home.
It further quoted Douglas as saying, “In the past, it was an enormous financial burden to establish an embassy in a foreign country. We now utilize reliable citizens to pursue business.â€
The reliable citizen upon whom the St. Kitts-Nevis government is depending to pursue business and look after the Federation’s interests in that part of the world is Victoria businessman Todd Axelrod.
Douglas further stated that the Federation’s financial sector is highly regulated and modelled on the Canadian system.
“My country has no income tax, no capital gains, no estate tax, corporate tax is relatively low and we offer a multi-faceted incentive package for new companies – tax holidays, omissions of duties, free concessions – but we have intensive due diligence,†he is quoted as saying.
Times Colonist said that among those who attended the Axlerod-hosted dinner were artist Art Vickers, Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Ida Chong, Small Business Victoria CEO Ken Stratford and retired KPMG partner Derrold Norgaard.
Norgaard, who, reportedly was impressed with Douglas, said, “He is a very dignified, well-spoken individual who is putting a lot of effort into moving his country to the next level.â€
He also said that the investment climate is favourable, citing “recent changes to tax legislation in Canada [and] a recent agreement that makes it more preferable for Canadians to do business there [St. Kitts-Nevis]â€.
An article published by Times Colonist on June 2, 2010 raised questions on the ownership of a waterfront Uplands property, reportedly valued at CAN$ 28 million, being used as an official consulate for St. Kitts and Nevis.
The 15 900-square-foot residence, referred to as Sweet Pea, is said to be located at 3195 Humber Road and sits on about 2.5 acres of land alongside 450 metres of waterfront. The article raised a red flag for many nationals and the issue had spurred much public discussion.
The Canadian property, according to the Times article, has seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool and spa, manicured grounds, a desalination plant and an enhanced and hi-tech security system.
However, in an interview with SKNVibes, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Astona Browne explained that the residence referred to in the news articles is owned by Honorary Consul of the Federation Todd Axelrod, who has served in this capacity for over two years. She emphasised that the property is not owned by the government and that it has no interest in that respect.
“The article is referring to the residence of Todd Axelrod, an Honorary Consul of St. Kitts and Nevis. The government does not own that property and the government will never own it. He has been there for more than two years…He resided in St. Kitts for some time and he is not even paid a salary, that’s why it is called an honorary consul. You don’t even have to be a citizen…,†Browne said.
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