Former Guyana Member of Parliament Abdul Kadir, who was sentenced to life in prison on a conviction of conspiring to commit a terrorist attack at New York’s JFK airport nearly a decade ago, died in a prison in the United States on Thursday.
Died in prison’s medical facility
Kadir, who also served as Mayor of Linden was in his mid-60’s.
It’s reported that family members in Guyana were informed of Kadir’s death when they received a call from authorities in the US.
It’s reported that he fell ill early Thursday and was taken to the prison’s medical facility where he died.
Kadir was convicted and sentenced in the United States in 2010 along with three other elderly men for plotting to blow up gas pipelines at the JFK Airport in New York City.
Always maintained innocence
Throughout his trial and even after being convicted, he maintained his innocence and repeatedly said he was wrongly accused and wrongfully convicted.
The US Government had used the services of a drug convict informant as its key witness during the trial.
The informant had been sent to Guyana and met with members of the Muslim community in Guyana and Trinidad.
Kadir was reportedly approached by the informant about Kadir’s engineering experience. Kadir, along with the three other men were arrested in Trinidad and Tobago and extradited to the United States where they faced trial in New York.
During an interview from behind bars in Trinidad before his extradition, Kadir declared his innocence and said he was never part of any plot to take harm to the United States or its people.
Set up
At the time, he said he was “set up” because of his Muslim faith and the global war against Islamic faith at the time following several terrorist attacks.
While on trial in New York, Kadir again declared his innocence, but US Prosecutors used his visits to Iran and other Muslim states against him. During the trial, audio recordings of conversations he had with the informant were also used.
Prior to his arrest in Trinidad and conviction in the United States, Kadir served the People’s National Congress as a Member of Parliament for one term.
Before that, he served as the Mayor of Linden, where he had worked for several years as a civil engineer.
