Rebellion in Trinidad 1990

In late July 1990, some 120 members of the militant Jamaat al-Muslimeen (meaning Group of Muslims in Arabic), founded (1984) and led by Iman Yasin Abu Bakr (1950?-), attempted to overthrow the government of Trinidad and Tobago, a two-island republic in the Caribbean off the northeast coast of Venezuela. This small black Muslim group, believed to have 250 to 300 members and involved in a land dispute with the government, had denounced many economic policies; Bakr, a former police officer, recognized only the "law of Allah," not "man's law," and sought a "new beginning in Trinidad." In the capital of Port-of-Spain, Bakr's rebels stormed and blew up the police station and seized the state TV station and parliament building with 42 hostages, including Prime Minister Arthur N. R. Robinson (1926-) and some cabinet ministers and legislators. At least 30 persons died in the fighting and looting during the rebellion, which drew little popular support and ended five days later on August 1, 1990. The rebels surrendered and released their hostages. Held captive for murder, treason, and other crimes were 114 Jamaat members, who were eventually released in July 1992 after a high-court judge upheld the validity of amnesty granted to them during the rebellion in order to secure the release of the hostages without bloodshed.

References

Dictionary of Wars, 499.

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