Zachariah
Banned
The Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt was an attempt to overthrow the government of Trinidad and Tobago, instigated on Friday, 27 July 1990, by the militant Islamist group Jamaat al Muslimeen, in which 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen attempted to stage a coup against the government of Trinidad and Tobago. 42 insurgents stormed The Red House, the seat of Parliament, and took Robinson and most of his cabinet hostage, while 72 of their accomplices attacked the offices of Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), the only television station in the country at that time, and the Trinidad Broadcasting Company, then one of only two radio stations in the country. At 6:00 pm, Yasin Abu Bakr appeared on television and announced that the government had been overthrown and that he was negotiating with the army. He called for calm and said that there should be no looting.
PM Robinson was beaten, degraded and shot in the lower right leg when he tried to order the army to attack the militants. The army and the police responded by sealing off the area around the Red House. Widespread looting and arson took place in Port of Spain and other parts of the East-West Corridor, but the remainder of the country was calm. American Airlines and British Airways cancelled all flights to the capital city. A state of emergency was declared by acting president Emmanuel Carter and martial law was imposed. Several cabinet members who had not been present in the Red House at the time of the attack set up office in the Trinidad Hilton. On the night of 27 July, the army took control of the TTT transmitter on Cumberland Hill, thus taking TTT off the air. But Jamaat al Muslimeen continued to negotiate with the army, holding their hostages at the Red House and at the headquarters of Trinidad and Tobago Television for the next six days, before eventually surrendering on 1 August and being taken into custody. They were tried for treason, but the Court of Appeal upheld the amnesty offered to secure their surrender, and they were released. The Privy Council later invalidated the amnesty, but the Muslimeen members were not re-arrested.
So here's an interesting WI scenario- what if Jamaat al Muslimeen's coup attempt had been successful? Let's say that, ITTL, the Muslimeen insurgents at the Red House give PM Robinson his thorough beat-down, and shoot him in the leg, before putting him on the phone, and he orders the army and police to stand down instead, with the ensuing negotiations eventually resulting in the army and police agreeing to accept Yasin Abu Bakr's coup, and in Abu Bakr effectively being installed as the military dictator of Trinidad and Tobago by August 1st 1990. How much of a geopolitical impact would this have had? And how long could Yasin Abu Bakr's Islamic State of Trinidad and Tobago have possibly endured- would it fall to internal pressures, external pressures, or would it have had a chance of clinging on past the present day?
PM Robinson was beaten, degraded and shot in the lower right leg when he tried to order the army to attack the militants. The army and the police responded by sealing off the area around the Red House. Widespread looting and arson took place in Port of Spain and other parts of the East-West Corridor, but the remainder of the country was calm. American Airlines and British Airways cancelled all flights to the capital city. A state of emergency was declared by acting president Emmanuel Carter and martial law was imposed. Several cabinet members who had not been present in the Red House at the time of the attack set up office in the Trinidad Hilton. On the night of 27 July, the army took control of the TTT transmitter on Cumberland Hill, thus taking TTT off the air. But Jamaat al Muslimeen continued to negotiate with the army, holding their hostages at the Red House and at the headquarters of Trinidad and Tobago Television for the next six days, before eventually surrendering on 1 August and being taken into custody. They were tried for treason, but the Court of Appeal upheld the amnesty offered to secure their surrender, and they were released. The Privy Council later invalidated the amnesty, but the Muslimeen members were not re-arrested.
So here's an interesting WI scenario- what if Jamaat al Muslimeen's coup attempt had been successful? Let's say that, ITTL, the Muslimeen insurgents at the Red House give PM Robinson his thorough beat-down, and shoot him in the leg, before putting him on the phone, and he orders the army and police to stand down instead, with the ensuing negotiations eventually resulting in the army and police agreeing to accept Yasin Abu Bakr's coup, and in Abu Bakr effectively being installed as the military dictator of Trinidad and Tobago by August 1st 1990. How much of a geopolitical impact would this have had? And how long could Yasin Abu Bakr's Islamic State of Trinidad and Tobago have possibly endured- would it fall to internal pressures, external pressures, or would it have had a chance of clinging on past the present day?
