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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| News Briefs From the Caribbean | |
| 2005-03-16 | |
| TRINIDAD: Judge orders retrial for Muslim leader PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - A judge ordered a retrial Wednesday after jurors delivered a split verdict in the murder conspiracy trial of a Muslim leader who led a failed coup in 1990. Jurors said they were divided 6-3 on whether to convict Yasin Abu Bakr of conspiring to murder Salim Rasheed and Zaki Abuaiah after he expelled them from his group in a dispute over leadership. The jurors, who deliberated for about two hours, did not immediately reveal what their votes had been. Justice Mark Mohamed ordered a retrial, saying at least seven jurors needed to agree for the verdict to stand. Dozens of relatives and supporters of Abu Bakr erupted into cheers outside the Hall of Justice in the capital of Port-of-Spain after they learned of the decision. Abu Bakr, 63, was allowed to remain free on extended bail. No new trial date was set. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Rasheed and Abuaiah told the court in January how they had become disillusioned with Abu Bakr's group before being expelled. HAITI: Canadian foreign minister visits for talks on U.N. efforts PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Canada's foreign minister arrived in Haiti on Wednesday for talks on U.N. peacekeeping efforts, two days before international donors meet to speed the flow of aid following the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Pierre Pettrigrew is to meet with interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and members of the U.N. force on his two-day visit to Haiti. They will discuss stabilization efforts, including a stalled plan to disarm rival factions blamed for hundreds of killings, Pettigrew's office said. The U.S.-backed interim government has blamed most of the violence on pro-Aristide street gangs. But armed ex-soldiers who helped overthrow Aristide in a February 2004 revolt still hold sway over much of the countryside and are accused of human rights violations, including the killing of four Haitian policemen. The Washington-based human rights group Refugees International warned Tuesday that Haitian police were unable to secure the capital and urged the U.N. civilian police to take command of law enforcement. CUBA: Sugar minister: 'violent' fall in sugar yield expected this year HAVANA (AP) - A "violent" drop is expected in the yield from the current sugar harvest because of ongoing drought in the island's east, Sugar Minister Gen. Ulises Rosales del Toro said in comments carried Wednesday by state media. "In the last 50 years, the sugar industry has suffered three large and expensive droughts, but none like this for its prolongation and economic damage," Rosales del Toro was quoted as saying in the Communist Party daily Granma. The minister gave no numbers, but President Fidel Castro said last week that the 2004-2005 harvest could yield as little as 1.5 million to 1.7 million metric tons. Cuba's 2003-2004 harvest was 2.5 million metric tons. That was down from the 2002-2003 harvest of 3.6 million metric tons.
Rosales del Toro said officials hoped for a better harvest this year, but "the adverse climatic situation not only impeded growth, but caused a violent drop" in expected yield. | |
| Posted by:Steve |