Given Guyana’s history of links to acts of terrorism, local security forces are looking to stem any further radicalisation coming out of this country, and as such, are joining forces with partners in the Western Hemisphere.
This is according to Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Patrick West, who told a media roundtable on Thursday that efforts are afoot for the continued monitoring of such activities on the local shores. He added that at the same time, focus is placed on trends of extremist links with Guyana’s close allies in the Caribbean region.
GDF Chief-of-Staff Brigadier Patrick West and SOUTHCOM Chief Admiral Kurt Tidd during the brief round-table with media operatives
“Trust me, as I speak today, we are doing everything in our power to ensure that we stem the tide of radicalisation in Guyana, and that if there are any issues of fighters returning to the region through the process of IMPACS, we are monitoring their movements across the Caribbean, and the information-sharing networks that we have across the Caribbean that we have rekindled in this conference are still going to be monitoring them,” Brigadier West said in response to questions posed by the Guyana Times.
The round-table was held at the end of the 16th Caribbean Nations Security Conference (CANSEC). Guyana hosted the two-day forum, which looked at, among other things, threats posed by radical extremists and those returning to the region.
Without venturing into the specifics of the strategy adopted to tackle the scourge, the Chief-of-Staff asserted the military intelligence networking that has been strengthened over the past two days would go a long way in preventing any radicalising into extremist ideologues.
“We continue to monitor from the security architecture the persons who may be exposed to any forms of radicalisation; and once those persons have been identified, in whatever area or community, the security architecture will continue to monitor them,” he stated.
In the past, Guyana has often found itself in the midst of various terrorism-related controversies. Back in 2007, a former Member of Parliament in Guyana, Abdul Kadir, was among the four Muslim terrorists who were intercepted during the plot to firebomb the John F. Kennedy Airport.
In December 2014, the Pakistan military killed leading Al Qaeda militant Shukrijumah, who was said to be of Guyanese parentage. Shukrijumah was wanted by the United States over a 2009 plot to attack the New York subway system, and was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) most wanted list.
Nevertheless, Brigadier West noted that local authorities are concerned with recent trends in other Caribbean states, given the close ties Guyana has with them. He referred to the situation in Trinidad and Tobago, where citizens are returning after Islamic State (ISIS) lost ground in the Middle East. It was reported earlier this year that the twin island republic is said to be largest recruitment source of ISIS per capita in the Western Hemisphere.
The Chief-of Staff further mentioned recent reports out of Jamaica, where a Muslim cleric, Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal, was labelled a global terrorist by the United States Treasury because he was reportedly facilitating ISIS recruits from the region to travel to radicalised areas. The U.S. has since asked for his extradition.
Moreover, the Chief of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which sponsored the regional security conference, Admiral Kurt Tidd, posited that bringing together the security chiefs from all the countries has serve to reinforce how similar the challenges are that are faced by countries in the western hemisphere are. To this end, he emphasised the importance of networking with each other against the scourge of radicalisation.
“The means that are available to each country differs, and so as we exchange ideas, best practices – things that we can do to work together more effectively. (But) most important is our commitment to continue to share information effectively, because ultimately that is the competitive advantage we have over threat networks — our ability to come together to work together as team mates,” he stated.
Admiral Tidd went on to outline that radicalisation has evolved over the years, with such acts occurring in surprising ways. This, he noted, is partly because of the readily available information on the internet.
GDF Chief-of-Staff Brigadier West had pointed out that Guyana’s geographical position on the South American Coast and its historical placement in the Caribbean has made the country vulnerable to not only radicalisation, but other illegal activities that are plaguing the region. But in the same vein, however, he noted that this connection to the two regions can serve as a bridge for cooperation in the context of linking networks to mitigate against the threats that are posed by organised criminal activities.
