The Jamaat-al-Muslimeen had a very strong intelligence network but never conducted surveillance on former President Noor Hassanali because he was a Muslim. Muslimeen member Kala Akii Bua said that yesterday at the hearing of the commission of enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup. He was responding to questions from commission chairman Sir David Simmons at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Henry Street, Port-of-Spain. Akii Bua said: "President Hassanali was a Muslim. He never used to come to our mosque but the one in St James and I can't see the reason for doing surveillance on the president. He was a Muslim."
Akii Bua said he didn't know whether surveillance was done on former prime minister ANR Robinson. He said the Jamaat's strongest "thing" was intelligence. He said he was never the head of intelligence. Simmons asked about members who were sent to Libya to train almost five years before the coup took place in 1990. "You were training people, in a very clandestine manner, four, five years before the attempted coup. Why was that necessary?" he asked.
Akii Bua said Libya supported the Jamaat in many ways, and a number of young men and women went to learn Arabic. He added: "Libya supplied us with medicines, Libya supplied us with books and at one time they paid the salaries of the teachers in the school so we didn't have a problem finding that money. "So this thing about going to Libya... it was not only about military training." The inquiry continues today from 9.30 am.
