Yasin Abu Bakr, born Lennox Philip is the leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen a Muslim group in Trinidad and Tobago. The group has long-standing links with Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi. Under the leadership of Abu Bakr and Bilaal Abdullah, the group staged an attempted coup d’état in 1990.
Abu Bakr, a former policeman, converted to Islam while a student in Canada. He later returned to Trinidad and founded the Jamaat al Muslimeen (commonly referred to simply as the Jamaat).
On December 4, 2006, he was found not-guilty for conspiring to murder two expelled Jamaat al Muslimeen members, Salim Rasheed and Adel Ghany. Deadbwoy, a friend of Rasheed and Ghany, killed them both. Justice Mustapha Ibrahim ruled that the evidence of the prosecution was “very weak, and so manifestly unreliable, and so discredited as a result of cross-examination, that no reasonable tribunal—none whatever—could safely convict on it.” The jurors soon returned a not-guilty verdict. On December 5, 2006, key witness, Brent “Small Brent” Danglade, was charged with perjury. He had refused to testify on the witness stand and had become a hostile witness.
In his Eid ul-Fitr message delivered on November 3, 2005 Abu Bakr threatened “war” against Muslims who did not pay zakaat next year. The statement was generally interpreted as a demand that the tax be paid to the Jamaat al Muslimeen. On November 8 Abu Bakr was arrested and charged with three counts of inciting extortion and one for sedition. The Jamaat al Muslimeen headquarters were occupied by the Army on November 10 and Abu Bakr’s office was demolished in a search for weapons and ammunition after metal detectors discovered objects below the building. A high-powered rifle, a hand grenade, walkie talkies and 700 rounds of ammunition were seized.
Jamaat al Muslimeen is widely believed by many to be involved in criminal activities such as kidnapping and the drug trade. Another controversial aspect of Abu Bakr has been his views on Indo-Trinidadians. On radio interviews Bakr has justified violent crime against Indo-Trinidadians because “Indians own all the land and business.” His speeches are controversial and considered racist by many, including Afro-Trinidadians. Despite his controversial history, Abu Bakr has proven to be a survivor in Trinidadian politics.
As of March 2007, three members of Abu Bakr’s organization (Jamaat al Muslimeen) have confessed of their role in the kidnapping, rape, murder and dismemberment of local businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman.