Yaad LinkUp

Bob Marley's ex-manager convicted on drug charge

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:58:00 +0000

Courtesy of Reuters

By Horace Helps

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - A former best friend and one-time manager of Reggae superstar Bob Marley was convicted on marijuana charges at the end of a seven-day trial late on Monday.

Former Jamaica football player Allan Cole, known as "Skill" because of his soccer abilities, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined J$1.015 million ($15,150) after being found guilty of possession of marijuana, dealing in marijuana and attempting to export the drug.

Cole's attorney Patrick Atkinson notified the court that his client would appeal and he was released on J$2 million ($29,850) bond.

Cole rose to prominence in 1966 by becoming the youngest schoolboy to represent Jamaica at football when he wore the national jersey against Haiti at 15 years and four months -- a record that still stands.

He played several years for Jamaica and also became the first Jamaican to land a professional contract in Brazil, playing for division one team Nautico in 1972.

But it was Cole's association with Marley that brought him even more fame.

Cole in published interviews said that he helped the Reggae star write seven of his hit songs, including "Exodus."

Cole was arrested on February 2, 2002, after police raided his house in the Jamaican capital and found 60 cartons of compressed marijuana, weighing 149 kg (328.5 lbs).

Cole, who maintained his innocence, said he was set up.

Jamaican Farmers UnderProducing

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:29:00 +0000

Jamaica Hoteliers and the EU has made very harsh criticisms against Jamaican farmers for being unreliable and unprofessional. Jamaican hoteliers have even been forced to get their produce from abroad. According to reports some hotels get a quality quota one month and fall short the next month. This come on the heel of high criticism of globalization. Globalization is an inevitable evolution of the world. Therefore shouldn't farmers take their future in their own hands and get with the program. Falling short of production demand is not acceptable and should not be tolerated. Farmers should not be babied anymore and should be held to the high standards that and business with the obligation to meet their demand is held to. Let's hear your comment:-

Pipeline plans found in JFK suspect's home

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:42:00 +0000

By Sharief Khan

GEORGETOWN (Reuters) - Guyanese police said on Tuesday they had found plans of pipelines in the home of Abdul Kadir, one of four men charged in a foiled plot to blow up fuel installations at New York's JFK International Airport.

Police Commissioner Henry Greene told Reuters he could not identify the type of pipeline shown, but said the plans "look like engineering stuff."

The U.S. indictment said Kadir had used his training as a civil engineer to work out technical details of the bombing.

It added that Kadir, a Shi'ite Muslim imam, offered financing for the conspiracy and acted as an intermediary between the conspirators and the Jamaat Al Muslimeen, a Muslim extremist group behind a 1990 coup in Trinidad.

Kadir -- along with fellow suspect Kareem Ibrahim -- made his first court appearance in Trinidad and Tobago's capital Port of Spain on Monday. A family statement said he was innocent of the charges.

Kadir was a senior consultant to the Linmine bauxite company in the town of Linden, 65 miles south of Georgetown.

He was an opposition member of parliament in the South American state until August last year and mayor of Linden between 1994 and 1996.

Greene said police had spoken to Kadir's wife. "She denied any knowledge of the plot to blow up JFK or her husband's involvement," he told reporters.

She confirmed her husband knew Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr when Kadir attended the University of the West Indies in Trinidad but added they had not been in contact since then as Kadir is a Shi'ite Muslim while Abu Bakr's group is Sunni.

Greene also said police had removed a few documents from the Georgetown home of Abdel Nur, another Guyanese charged in the plot. Nur surrendered to police in Trinidad on Tuesday and protested his innocence.

Greene said his room in the Georgetown house was "found insecure and appeared abandoned" and that police were looking into a report that two men had removed clothes from the room the day before police searched it.

The police commissioner said security forces were "not aware of any Muslim radical links in Guyana" and that Guyanese police had put together a team to work with the United States on the case.

The fourth suspect, Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native of Guyana, was arrested in New York

JFK Suspects Surrenders in Trinidad

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:39:00 +0000

By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar

PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) - A fourth suspect in what U.S. authorities said was a plot to blow up New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport surrendered to police on Tuesday, proclaiming his innocence.

Abdel Nur of Guyana, the only suspect still at large, turned himself in shortly after midday/1600 GMT at a police station in Diego Martin in western Trinidad, a senior Trinidad and Tobago police official said.

"I am an innocent man and this is all a setup," Nur told reporters as he was led into court in the Caribbean nation's capital for his initial appearance before a magistrate.

U.S. authorities have said Nur and at least one other suspect in the alleged plot belonged to Jamaat al Muslimeen, a Muslim group behind a 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad.

The group's leader, 64-year-old Yasin Abu Bakr, is facing sedition and extortion charges for a 2005 sermon in which he is accused of threatening bloodshed against all Trinidadian Muslims who fail to pay him a "zakaat" or tax.

Nur's surrender followed the arrests in Trinidad over the weekend of two other men accused by U.S. authorities of plotting the airport attack.

Abdul Kadir, a citizen of Guyana and former member of its parliament, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, appeared in court on Monday.

Another suspect, Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native of Guyana, was arrested in New York. U.S. authorities said he was a former airport employee who conducted surveillance for the group, identifying targets and escape routes.

The trio in Trinidad will appear in court for a bail hearing on Monday and have been scheduled for another courtroom appearance on August 2, when the United States will press for their extradition.

Nur did not elaborate on his claim of innocence. Kadir and Ibrahim were also described as innocent in a statement issued by one of their family members.

A statement from Huda Ibrahim, the 21-year-old daughter of Kareem Ibrahim, said he and Kadir were victims of a campaign by the U.S. Republican Party aimed at bolstering its standing in the 2008 presidential election by sowing fear about terrorism.

"Unfortunately, innocent persons with no connection whatsoever to the political and military disputes between the United States and the Middle East ... have been used as pawns in an international game of subterfuge," the statement said.

The New York plot allegedly targeted airport fuel installations. Guyanese police on Tuesday said they had found plans of pipelines in Kadir's home.

Guyana Police Commissioner Henry Greene told Reuters he could not identify the type of pipeline shown in the plans. The U.S. indictment said Kadir used his training as an civil engineer to work out technical details of the airport bombing.

Pair held in "US Plot" Arrives in Court Today

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 23:54:00 +0000

Courtesy of BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6719859.stm

Two men held in Trinidad over an alleged plot to blow up New York's JFK airport will fight moves to extradite them to the US, their lawyer says.
Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad and Abdul Kadir of Guyana appeared in court in Port-of-Spain to hear the judge fix an extradition hearing for August.

A third man is in custody in New York and a fourth man is sought in Trinidad.

They are accused of conspiring to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines serving the airport, one of the world's busiest.

Kareem Ibrahim and Abdul Kadir, a former Guyanese politician, made their initial court appearance to face one count each of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act against the government of the United States.

"We will be opposing extradition," said Rajid Persad, their lawyer.

See a map of the area
The judge remanded them in custody until 11 June when a bail hearing was due and an extradition hearing was set for 2 August.

US authorities said both men were associates of Jamaat al Muslimeen, a Muslim organisation behind a coup attempt in Trinidad in 1990.

The group is not accused of offering them any support.

FBI informant

The third suspect was arrested in Brooklyn late on Friday and named as Russell Defreitas, originally from Guyana.

Mr Defreitas was arraigned in New York City on Saturday afternoon, but did not enter a plea.

He is to be held pending a bail hearing on Wednesday, US prosecutors said.

A fourth suspect, Abdel Nur of Guyana, is believed to be in Trinidad.

The alleged plot - which is said not to have gone past the planning stages - involved blowing up the airport's fuel tanks and pipeline, US justice department officials said.

The pipeline is 40 miles (64km) long and carries jet fuel from New Jersey and through the New York boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens.

The pipeline serves two other airports in the area - LaGuardia and Newark Liberty.

The alleged plot was brought to light when Mr Defreitas recruited an FBI informant to help him in the plan, US officials said.

The men conducted surveillance of the airport, including videotaping their targets and downloading satellite images from the internet, according to officials.

They said the informant had recorded some of the conversations he had had with Mr Defreitas.

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Jamaica Air deal with Virgin Atlantic

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:16:00 +0000

KINGSTON, June 1 (Reuters) - Virgin Atlantic Airways (VA.UL: Quote, Profile, Research) is taking over the Jamaica to London route of Air Jamaica effective next October due to heavy losses at the beleaguered national carrier, a government official said on Friday.

Confirming recent media reports, Jamaican Finance and Planning Minister Omar Davies told reporters the deal with Virgin was more attractive than one proposed by British Airways (BAY.L: Quote, Profile, Research).

Financial terms were not disclosed, however.

"We are faced with two choices as far as Air Jamaica is concerned," Davies said.

"We can either close the airline, or implement bold measures to maintain it. At this stage, we have decided to implement those measures."

Davies said Air Jamaica lost $27 million on the Kingston/Montego Bay route to London route in 2006 and was on track to lose another $30 million this year.

"Government remains committed to a national airline, but not at any price," Davies said.

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Trinidad Links in Plot to Blow up JFK

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:57:00 +0000

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Four people, including a former member of Guyana's parliament, have been charged with planning to blow up New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, U.S. officials said on Saturday.

This was "one of the most chilling plots imaginable," Roslynn Mauskopf, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference in New York. "The devastation that would be caused ... is just unthinkable."

The plotters sought to blow up the airport's jet fuel tanks and part of the 40-mile (64-km) pipeline feeding them from New Jersey. Three of the four suspects, who included a former airline cargo handler, have been arrested, federal law enforcement officials said.

In a recorded conversation one suspect predicted there would be few survivors and that the attacks would result in the destruction of "the whole of Kennedy."

There was no connection to al Qaeda, officials said, but some suspects were linked to an Islamist extremist group in Trinidad.

In one recorded conversation, a suspect compared the plot to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, saying, "Even the twin towers can't touch it." He added, "This can destroy the economy of America for some time."

The indictment said the suspects referred to their plot as "the chicken farm" or "the chicken hatchery" but did not explain the code name.

News of the foiled plot comes weeks after six suspected Islamist militants were detained on charges of planning to attack a U.S. Army base at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Targets in the airport plot included terminal buildings, aircraft and fuel tanks, as well as the fuel pipeline to the airport.

The plot was foiled with the help of an informant who recorded conversations with the suspects, some as recent as last month. The arrests came well before the plan came to fruition and the FBI said there was no threat to the public from the plot.

Mark Mershon, assistant director in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York field office, declined to say whether there might be more arrests.

PLOT SPREAD FROM U.S.

Officials said the plot began in the United States and spread to Trinidad and Guyana.

Mershon said the cell had shown unusual persistence, seeking finance and expert advice and gathering photographic and video surveillance as well as satellite photographs.

"This is a very determined group," he said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the plot was "different in its distinct ties to the Caribbean, a region that is rarely thought of in terms of terrorism but of increasing concern to us as a crucible in the foment of Islamic radicalism."

White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said President George W. Bush had been briefed and updated regularly on the progress of the investigation. "This case is a good example of international counterterrorism cooperation," she said.

Among the three suspects arrested since Friday was Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native of Guyana who was arrested in New York. Authorities said he was a former airport employee who conducted surveillance for the group, using his knowledge of the site to identify targets and escape routes.

"Any time you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States," Defreitas said in one recorded conversation. "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 mourning. You can kill the man twice."

Authorities said two suspects were in custody in Trinidad and Tobago -- Abdul Kadir, a citizen of Guyana and former member of its parliament, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago. Their extradition was being sought, officials said.

Officials in Trinidad and Tobago said one of the suspects arrested there was caught on a flight preparing to take off for Venezuela.

Mershon said the fourth suspect, Abdel Nur, a citizen of Guyana, was believed to be at large in Trinidad.

Authorities said Kadir and Nur were associates of Jamaat Al Muslimeen, a Muslim group behind a 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad.

(Additional reporting by Xavier Briand and Jim Vicini in Washington and Linda Hutchinson-Jafar in Port of Spain)

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Jamalco aluminum refinery workers protest in union dispute

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:51:00 +0000

KINGSTON, Jamaica, June 1 (Reuters) - Workers at the Jamalco alumina refinery in Jamaica have staged continuing protests as they seek to join a trade union.

Several dozen waved placards and stood outside the entrance of the company to vent their anger on Thursday. The company said production has not been affected but some of the protesting workers said normality cannot be guaranteed until the matter is settled.

Jamalco is jointly owned by the Jamaican government and Alcoa Minerals, a subsidiary of Alcoa (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research.

About 200 employees or 60 percent of the work force were affected by the refinery management's decision not to recognize the workers as unionized personnel. The company claims the workers are independent contractors and, as such, are not entitled to union representation.

The Union of Technical Administrative and Supervisory Personnel, which seeks to represent them, said the workers are qualified to have union representation.

The company and the union have agreed to seek an early date in court to settle the dispute.

REFILE-BG, Chevron reach $2 billion gas deal in Trinidad

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Tue, 29 May 2007 16:44:00 +0000

By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar

PORT OF SPAIN, May 29 (Reuters) - BG Trinidad and Tobago and its partner, Chevron Trinidad and Tobago Resources SRL, have reached a $2 billion agreement to supply 220 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to Trinidad and Tobago's state-owned National Gas Company.

The companies are affiliates of BG Group Plc (BG.L: Quote, Profile, Research and Chevron Corp. (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research and finalized the deal at a signing ceremony late on Monday. Beginning in 2009, they will deliver gas to the National Gas Company for use in the domestic market for an initial term of 11 years, with an option to extend for four more years.

Martin Houston, BG's executive vice president and managing director for North America, Caribbean and Global LNG, said the deal underpins the commercialization of up to 1.2 trillion cubic feet of currently undeveloped gas reserves in the East Coast Marine Area off Trinidad's eastern coast.

Chevron and BG each have a 50 percent working interest in the East Coast Marine Area.

"As one of the country's long-term energy partners, BG was committed to answering the government's call for additional gas supply for the domestic market. This natural gas will enable the new industrial plants that are currently under construction to come on stream in 2009 and 2010 as scheduled," Houston said at a signing ceremony late Monday.

The project will involve drilling and completion of four new wells.

Ali Moshiri, managing director for Chevron's Latin America Business Unit, said his company looks forward to working with BG and the National Gas Company to pursue additional opportunities in the region.

"We are going to be working closely with the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and the government of Venezuela to develop the natural resources that is shared between the two counties," he said.

Jamaica offers its youngest free health care

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Tue, 29 May 2007 16:42:00 +0000

KINGSTON, May 28 (Reuters) - Jamaica began offering its youngest citizens free health care on Monday under a plan unveiled three weeks ago by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

Under the program, Jamaicans aged 18 and under are to be treated free of charge at all the Caribbean island's public hospitals and clinics.

Opposition leaders have derided the plan as a vote-catching move by Simpson Miller, who took office after a special election in February last year as Jamaica's first female leader.

The election was to replace veteran former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson as head of the ruling People's National Party.

General elections are constitutionally due in the nation of 2.7 million people by October, when the People's National Party is expected to face a strong challenge from the opposition Jamaica Labour Party.

The government has said it will cost between $5.2 million $7.4 million annually to finance the free health-care program.

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Local Caribbean Gas Prices

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 10:29:00 +0000

Caribbean gas prices are also facing the repercussion of the international oil market. Gas prices in Jamaica will reach a record high today. Gas price will soon have many running for bankruptcy lawyers. Local gas prices are further likely to be increased in the coming weeks. The price line is very extended in comparison to where it was last year or even just a couple month ago. How is it on your islands?

Caribbean Home Equity Loans

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 09:25:00 +0000

It is very hard to be a homeowner in the caribbean, I can speak from a Jamaican point of view. The homeowner insurance is outragoues so are the homeowner loans. Many homeowner quotes that they are facing an endless rental situation. The homeowner rates bank provides are too high. They can't get homeowner credit. How is it across the caribbean?

Crminal Lawyers and Paid Dating Services

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 08:50:00 +0000

Should arizona lawyers take up online singles dating services and dating matchmaking that attach a fee to their services. Many personal injury lawyers want to go to court to help members who are protesting allegedly being ripped off by these services. Shouldn't love be free?

Did America Get it Right on Idol

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 07:48:00 +0000

Jordin Sparks was voted as the new American Idol. She won over beat-boxing Blake Lewis, with his contemporary flare on all music types even classics like the BG's. At 17 Sparks is the youngest American Idol. Did the better performer or the better singer win?

Montano in Fracas

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 07:21:00 +0000

Machel Montano got caught up in the fracas where a man was severely beaten. Lawyers are considering pressing charges against Machel Montano and his entourage, although he denied the charges. What is your opinion of the incident?

Jamaica Becoming Too Americanize

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 06:39:00 +0000

I believe Jamaica is rapidly becoming very Americanize. Some may see it as a step in the right direction, but I only see it as a rapid destruction of the values and culture of our society. Does anyone agree.

Is American Idol Still Relevant

noreply@blogger.com (Yaadblog) — Thu, 24 May 2007 06:06:00 +0000

Is it me or is American Idol just a big waste nowadays? It has lost its appeal, the winners are more and more becoming second tier, not like the quality of the first season. Let me get your feedbacks.