Weve made international headlines over the involvement of T&T nationals with ISIS. Buzz News: Trinidadian mother confirms her son with ISIL: newspaper. Reuters: After weeks of speculation about the involvement of Trinidad and Tobago nationals joining the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a mother confirmed her 29-year-old son left the Caribbean country a year ago to join the militant group, according to a local media report. Shane Crawford, also known as Asadullah, sold his valuables including a van and a big-screen TV to purchase airfare, the Sunday Express reported in an interview with the mother. He traveled to nearby Venezuela with one of his wives, then to London and Turkey before ending up in Syria, she said. Local media have speculated that a number of men from Trinidad and Tobago had joined ISIL, including a man who in an ISIL video post identified himself as Al-Trinidadi. Government officials have not confirmed that mans identity. In October 2011, Crawford, along with 15 other men, was detained during a partial State of Emergency on suspicions of participating in a plot to kill Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three Cabinet ministers. No charges were brought against them and they were freed. Crawfords mother said after his detention that her son was frightened to venture out. “He would stay inside and play his games, he liked videogames,” she said of the youngest of her six children. “Not everyone can take oppression. You lash out in different ways. He left to fight. He believes in what he is doing.” A number of Muslim organizations in the country have publicly condemned the actions of ISIL claiming it did not reflect the teachings of Islam. Muslims make up 6 percent of the 1.3 million population in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1990, the group Jamaat al Muslimeen held the then-prime minister and several Cabinet members hostage during a six-day siege which claimed 24 lives. The 114 Muslimeen members were freed when a court upheld a government amnesty.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:03:54 +0000
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