Trinidad terrorist threats drive off cruises

news.ft.com By Canute James in Kingston Published: January 28 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: January 28 2003 4:00

P&O has ordered four cruise ships not to call at Trinidad and Tobago after reports that a radical Muslim group in the Caribbean state was planning to attack US and British interests with biological weapons if war is launched against Iraq.

The shipping line acted after a warning by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Britons against travelling to Trinidad and Tobago because of the threat of terrorism and a claim by a former prime minister of links between Trinidad's government and al-Qaeda.

The police in the country, located off Venezuela, said it was not aware of the group that had threatened attacks, which has not been named. Local journalists said they had been blindfolded and taken to a location to be shown the chemicals.

US and UK interests in Trinidad and Tobago include oil and gas installations valued at several billion dollars. Senior army officers said that there were contingency plans to deal with biological attack. The health minister met officials yesterday to discuss responses to attack.

Trinidad and Tobago has a small Muslim community, representing 5.8 per cent of a 1.3m population. In 1980 Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Muslim sect, attempted a coup.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that while most visits to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago's capital, were trouble-free, "UK nationals worldwide should be aware of the risk of indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets in public places, including tourist sites.

"We believe Trinidad and Tobago to be one of a number of countries where there may be an increased terrorist threat. British nationals should exercise vigilance, particularly in public places frequented by foreigners such as hotels, restaurants and shopping malls."

P&O Princess Cruises said it had kept the four cruises from calling at Trinidad "for security reasons". A spokesman said: "We took the decision after considering advice from a number of sources, including the Foreign Office."

The government said that the travel warning was based on an "exaggeration of local events". However, Basdeo Panday, a former prime minister and leader of the main opposition party, said that local groups were connected to al-Qaeda and that "the government was in association with those elements".

Patrick Manning, the prime minister, rejected Mr Panday's claim, saying it was "one of the worst examples of irresponsibility and irrationality I have seen in my long political career".