In 'Little Guyana,' Disbelief Over Terrorism Arrests

NEW YORK, June 3 -- 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."

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. Experts, meanwhile, continued to debate how plausible it would have been for the uncovered cell to carry out the alleged attack.

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.

But analysts said the alleged plot to bomb the airport's fuel infrastructure would have been technically difficult, with some expressing doubts about the cell's capability to carry out such an attack. Officials said that the alleged conspiracy never reached an "operational" stage and that the airport was never in immediate danger.

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 just doesn't sound like them," said Chris Zambelis, an analyst with the District-based think tank Jamestown Foundation who has written extensively on Islam in Guyana and Trinidad.

He added: "I don't think you can say that this indicates some sort of trend toward radicalization of the Muslim community in the Caribbean; there is no evidence of that yet. There may be a few radicals out there, but I don't think you can say this is an important source of new concern."

JAM's leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, is facing legal troubles of his own in Trinidad. Recently cleared of one set of criminal charges, he is about to go on trial for sedition, related to an alleged campaign to extort money from other Muslim groups. He is also battling a $32 million government fine related to property disputes, according to Raoul Pantin, a former Trinidadian TV reporter who was taken hostage by JAM during the 1990 coup attempt and who wrote a book on the siege.

It is unclear in the federal indictment how close Defreitas and the others came to securing JAM's help -- an effort that may have been difficult, analysts said, given JAM's poor relations with other Muslim groups. Ibrahim is quoted as saying in a recorded conversation as recently as last month that the conspirators should not pursue links with JAM, recommending instead that the cell seek help from other unspecified groups "overseas."

The indictment is far more clear regarding the apparent intent of the men, especially Defreitas. He told an informant in a recorded conversation, according to the indictment, that he watched in rage as military parts, including missiles, were shipped to Israel out of JFK. He also allegedly spoke of daydreaming about blowing up planes on the runway.

Nowhere were such characterizations seen as more troubling than in Little Guyana, a quiet neighborhood of two-story buildings. Its commercial strip is Liberty Avenue, with its Caribbean bakeries, clothing stores and roti joints.

The Guyanese first flowed to New York in the '50s and '60s, pursuing higher education. A generation has done well here and has integrated, experts and community members said -- making the idea of political violence all the more shocking.

Residents here call Guyana a relaxed, peaceful, multicultural society whose people are Muslims, Hindus and Christians. They are descended from Indians, Africans, American Indians and Europeans.

"This is something I cannot comprehend," said Zameer Sattaur, 41, the imam of Masjid Al-Abidin, the mosque at the heart of the neighborhood, which he says draws as many as 1,000 people to prayer. "Guyanese people here do not support anything of such nature, and we will not condone such things."