BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today, in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced convicted defendant Kareem Ibrahim to life in prison for conspiring to commit a terrorist attack at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Ibrahim and his coconspirators believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York.

A federal jury convicted Kareem Ibrahim of multiple terrorism offenses in May 2011 after a four-week trial. The evidence at trial established that Ibrahim, an Imam and leader of the Shiite Muslim community in Trinidad & Tobago, provided religious instruction and operational support to a group plotting to commit a terrorist attack at JFK Airport. The plot originated with Russell Defreitas, a naturalized United States citizen from Guyana, who drew on his prior experience working at JFK Airport as a cargo handler to plan the attack on its fuel tanks and fuel pipeline. Beginning in 2006, Defreitas recruited others to join the plot, including the defendant Kareem Ibrahim, Abdel Nur and Abdul Kadir, a former member of parliament in Guyana. In May 2007, Defreitas presented Ibrahim with video surveillance and satellite imagery of the targets for terrorist attack because Ibrahim had connections with militant leaders in Iran.

During cross-examination at trial, Ibrahim admitted that he advised the plotters to present the plot to revolutionary leaders in Iran and to use operatives ready to engage in suicide attacks at the airport. On one of the recorded conversations entered into evidence, Ibrahim told Defreitas that the attackers must be ready to “fight it out, kill who you could kill and go back to Allah.”

New York: Since 2009, more foreclosures have been filed in Queens, NY, than in any other borough, according to the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project. Five of the hardest hit ZIP codes in Queens are within a 15-minute drive of the office of Mr. Ehul Ahmad, who community leaders say once held about 75 percent of local real estate listings.

Paban Saha and Syed Husain, friends and former business partners, said they contacted him in 2006 after seeing his newspaper advertisements. They said he earned their confidence at their first meeting, when they watched him write a check to a charity.

by Suleiman Bulbulbia: The Barbados Association of Muslim Youth (BAMY)  recently concluded their 2011 Football (Soccer) Tournament.  The Barbados Muslim Association (BMA) sponsored the award for the “Most Outstanding Islamic Character” in each of the three age groups in the tournament.  The BMA is happy to support these activities as it is a means of bringing the young people in the Muslim community together.

According to their Facebook page, the Barbados Association of Muslim Youth (BAMY) is an endeavour that has been started with the intention of promoting Islamic brotherhood for the Muslim youth of Barbados through various types of sporting events and activities. The Association’s intention is to also provide various modes of recreation, entertainment and leisure activities which will become a means of strengthening the ties between our brothers and help to encourage love and unity within our island. The BAMY activities provide an opportunity to offer a healthy atmosphere through sporting competition by uniting the community, creating healthy team spirit, building self-confidence and so much more.

The tournament this year saw a record 14 teams participating in three age groups.  Spread over a five day period the tournament started on December 26th and ended on December 30th.  Rain on some of the nights did not dampen the enthusiasm and desire of each team to compete to the best of their ability as they played on in the heavy showers.

Participation came from all age groups, jamaats (associations) and ethnicity came together in the 14 teams to play at Murphy Pasture in the City against the backdrop of Bridgetown’s largest mosque, Jumma Masjid.

At the award ceremony, Maulana Aaakil, one of the Imams of Jumma Masjid, spoke of using the opportunity of these sporting tournaments to cultivate strong character which would bring benefit to the individual and community at large.

The persons receiving the award were judged by individuals who attended the event each night and in consultation with referees and other officials.  This award is an important part of the tournament and seeks to reward those who stand out in by their character and commitment to their principles of ihsan (excellence) both on the field and off.

CLASSES resumed without incident yesterday at ASJA Girls’ College, Todd Street, San Fernando, just one day after parents and non- teaching staff members physically blocked a teacher from entering the compound in a heated confrontation.

Out-dated ways of teaching in mosques is behind a dramatic rise in the number of young British Muslims going to prison, a top cleric has said.

Ahtsham Ali, an adviser to the Prison Service, said that mosques in the UK fail to understand the young men that come through their door because of imams arriving in the country and not being able to preach in English.

He said that more needs to be done to understand problems in society like family breakdown, arranged marriages and drugs.

Trinidad:  Gasparillo businessman Tiki Ali is positive that bones found in Caroni on Thursday morning are of his son Naail Ali who was kidnapped from in front of the family’s business three years ago. The bones were taken to the Forensic Sciences Centre yesterday and a series of tests are scheduled to begin on Monday. Ali and his wife will submit samples of blood for DNA testing on Tuesday. Ali said although the remains had to undergo forensic testing, a pair of sneakers recovered from the grave belonged to Naail.

Naail Ali

"At one point I would like to say, 'Kamla, I forgive you. That was my first gut feeling. That Kamla, whatever you have done to me or intend to do to me in the future, I forgive you. That's how I feel in my heart. If she was driving along the road and she got a flat tyre, I would be the first to fix it for her. I say that from here (pointing to his heart)," Choate said. 

He said he respected Persad-Bissessar as the leader of the nation and as someone who needed to be protected for the good of the nation.

Choate told the Express: "She is a woman, someone who needs to be protected. In Islam, a man protects a woman. I feel emotional about it. How can that (hatching a plot to kill) be done? Why would someone want to assassinate the Prime Minister? No. We are to protect her. You cannot even think those kind of thoughts. Of course I respect her as a leader."

Choate said he was shocked and surprised when he learned from police, while detained, he was pin-pointed as the mastermind of the alleged plot.

"That hit me hard. That hit me really hard," he said, as he recalled being served the documentation outlining in detail the allegation.

"For somebody to be falsely accused of being the mastermind in a plot to kill the Prime Minister and other ministers, it was a harrowing experience."

Choate said: "I wish that Kamla would clear our names. All of us. Clear our names by making a statement. Just like she came out openly that night and said about this treasonous act and assassination plot. Just as how she said that, she can come out and say that we were mistaken in our assessment of these people."

He said a statement by a Prime Minister was powerful enough to destroy someone's reputation.

"I know the children here (at the school) still love me, but I don't know what will be the reaction of people outside. And our reputation as Muslims is very important," he told the Express yesterday, as he sat on a bench on the compound of his school, Darul Qu'ran Wal Hadith Islamic School, at Calcutta No 2, Freeport.