Terrorist Watch

US says Jamaica could be a breeding ground for extremism

The United States Embassy in Kingston has branded Jamaica as potentially a fertile breeding ground for terrorism.

A February 2010 secret diplomatic cable from the embassy to Washington pointed to acts of terrorism committed by Jamaicans abroad and expressed concerns that "history could repeat itself".

"With easy access to drug money, networks of gang members throughout US and British prisons, thousands of disaffected youths, a high number of US tourists, and less than robust security, Jamaica potentially presents fertile ground for those who might commit acts in the name of Islamist extremism," the cable said.

It pointed to acts committed by persons with Jamaican heritage such as Kevin Brown, Richard Reid, Lee Boyd Malvo, Germaine Lindsay and Abdullah al-Faisal.

But the cable also included Stephen Fray, the St James man who attempted to hijack an aircraft in Montego Bay, as proof that extremism could be a feature in Jamaica.

the new preacher

The cable, accessed by non-profit group WikiLeaks, also revealed that Jamaica has established a special unit to collect information on Islamist extremism.

This underscored previous cables which stated that persons with links to al-Faisal are being closely monitored by both Jamaican and United States authorities.

According to the cable, al-Faisal, whom the embassy refers to as "the new preacher in town", could influence radicalism on the island.

It also said the likelihood of Islamist extremism has increased with the return of al-Faisal to Jamaica as "a potentially motivating catalyst".

Also, the correspondence, sent to Washington, said, "Jamaica's proximity to, and a large expatriate population in, the US, Canada and the UK underscores the need to ensure that Islamist extremism does not grow in a nation struggling to control its staggering crime rate."

It said that Jamaica, while having an antiterrorism act, is "largely unprepared to address a real threat".

"A societal trend of young men who are quick to resort to acts of violence, and a history of high-profile terrorist operations perpetrated by individuals with Jamaican roots, should raise concerns and awareness that history could repeat itself," the cable concluded.

Jamaican-born Brown served in the US army and worked in Iraq as a contractor. After returning to Jamaica where his mother was murdered, Brown in April 2008 attempted to board a flight from Orlando, Florida, to Montego Bay with bomb-making materials in his luggage. The US Embassy noted that Brown was not a Muslim but speculated he wanted to show his friends how to make bombs.

The embassy also said Fray, who was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison after he held 160 passengers on a Canadian charter flight and the crew hostage, "may have been Muslim and it appears he visited a mosque on Jamaica's north coast".

In the case of Reid, he was a Briton whose father was a Jamaican. He attempted to detonate an explosive in his shoe aboard American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami.

"Reid embraced the teachings of radical Islam, and later honed his extremist beliefs at England's Brixton Mosque," the embassy said, noting al-Faisal is also linked to the same mosque.

Lindsay, a suicide bomber, was born in Jamaica and left when he was five. He converted to Islam and, on July 7, 2005, participated in the London bombings.