Trinidad judge levels murder charge against leader of Islamic group that staged 1990 coup

Murder charge for leader of Trinidad Islamic group

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — The leader of an Islamic group that staged a failed coup in Trinidad 20 years ago has been charged with murder.

A judge ruled Wednesday there is sufficient cause to charge Yasin Abu Bakr and another member of the Jamaat al Muslimeen group. The ruling came at the end of an inquiry into the 1998 slaying of a 22-year-old mechanic.

Bakr and his co-defendant did not enter pleas.

Bakr’s group stormed Parliament in 1990 and took the prime minister and Cabinet hostage. They surrendered six days later after the government gave them amnesty. Twenty-four people died during the uprising, the only Islamic revolt in the Western Hemisphere.

Bakr has been charged with various crimes over the years but never convicted.