Jihad Watch reported in past about Trinidad having the highest ISIS recruitment in the Western hemisphere. Following that came another report that warned that the Islamic State was training jihadists in Caribbean tourist hotspots.
Now Jihad Watch has been cited at a recent Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Counter-Terrorism Strategy conference, in which twenty Caribbean countries participated. When quizzed over the risk of jihadis returning at the conference in Port of Spain, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon replied, according to the Trinidad Express:
It is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when….The UK Sun warned that “fears are growing that Trinidad and Tobago could face a new wave of terror attacks from returning ISIS jihadis” and that we have “the highest rate of ISIS foreign recruitment in the Western hemisphere, while Jihad Watch reported that ‘fears are growing that Western holidaymakers will be targeted in terror attacks by depraved terrorists who have travelled back to Trinidad and Tobago from the beaten caliphate.’
Trinidad is also the only Western country that experienced an attempted Islamic overthrow of the government.
“‘Do we have a plan to stop Trini terrorists returning?’…Opposition MP wants to know”, by Donstan Bonn, Trinidad Express, November 3, 2017:
Naparima Member of Parliament Rodney Charles says Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley needs to tell the nation what is the Government’s plan of dealing with the threat of terrorist acts by returning terrorists.
Charles said Rowley’s inability to develop concrete policies to deal with home grown terrorism, including the issue of returning terrorists, has once again led to him resorting to spinning untruths and blaming the UNC for his Government’s many failings on the crime and terrorism fronts.
“Dr. Rowley again falsely blamed the Opposition for tarnishing our image abroad when we questioned in Parliament his government’s shortcomings on crime and terrorism. Last Friday in San Fernando he said the Opposition in Parliament told the world that we are a nest of ISIS and we’re creating Muslims extremists and jihadists.”
Charles said while there have been several international news reports with respect to the threat to Trinidad and Tobago from returning terrorists, no member of the Opposition is quoted as a source.
“The UK Express of 25th October 2017 warned that ISIS is training our jihadists to target, on their return, tourism hotspots and westerners in the region, and further reported that when quizzed over the risk of jihadis returning at a recent Caricom Counter-Terrorism Strategy conference in Port of Spain, Minister of National Security Edmund Dillon replied: “It is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’….”
He said that same article also quoted former US Ambassador John Estrada as describing the islands as the terror group’s “unthinking seedbed”, and telling the New York Times: “Per capita, Trinidad has the greatest number of foreign fighters from the Western Hemisphere who have joined the Islamic State.”
“The UK Sun warned that “fears are growing that Trinidad and Tobago could face a new wave of terror attacks from returning ISIS jihadis” and that we have “the highest rate of ISIS foreign recruitment in the Western hemisphere, while Jihad Watch reported that ‘fears are growing that Western holidaymakers will be targeted in terror attacks by depraved terrorists who have travelled back to Trinidad and Tobago from the beaten caliphate.”
“When Canadian, United States, Australian, and UK governments issue negative travel advisories, they have independent sources of obtaining and verifying that information including their Embassies and High Commissions in Port of Spain, Charles said.
He said the Prime Minister clearly does not understand that, unlike his bankrupt administration, governments have structured, varied, reliable and systematic ways of gathering intelligence on global terrorism in general and, in particular, about our home grown terrorists especially while they are abroad.
“It would not be surprising if some of these missions know more than our own Ministry of National Security about drug related and criminal activities taking place locally.”…
“Whilst countries around the world are articulating comprehensive plans to deal with returning terrorists, PM Rowley presides over a clueless administration that has no known plans to confront our terrorist threat.
“This government has no clue as to who left T&T for Syria, when they left, how many left, what are their connections back home, how they were recruited, who financed their travels, where our jihadists went, which battles they fought, what military skills they now possess, who died, who were captured, when will survivors return, and what we will do with them upon their arrival.
“Where are our plans Dr. Rowley? Stop the blame game and start working,”…..