Bakr weeps for ‘good man’ Guerra

YASIN ABU BAKR, the man who led the 1990 aborted coup in Trinidad, broke down in tears yesterday at the funeral of  the “Laventille Don” Mark Guerra, a high-ranking Jamaat Al Muslimeen member who was shot dead in front of his Wallerfield farm on Sunday evening.

It was the first time that the media has seen the Muslimeen leader shed tears ever since his proverbial rise to controversy in the early 1980s. What was more interesting was the way Bakr described Guerra — “a good man who died a martyr.” Guerra, also called Abdul Jaleel, was assassinated, according to police investigators, who up to now have not arrested anyone for the murder. Yesterday, more than 2,000 persons, most of them in Muslim garb, turned up at the Muslimeen Mosque on Mucurapo Road, St James, for the service. Two of Guerra’s wives and some of his children were present. Kenneth Collis, former PNM Minister and the man now in charge of the URP where Guerra last worked, was there to give support. Even the police and the soldiers were present, but outside the premises.

Before the 2 pm service at the mosque, the people of John John where Guerra lived had a last chance to see him at the Carib Tokyo panyard. But the scene was set at Mucurapo. The body was placed in a white open casket near the entrance of the mosque for mourners to catch a glimpse of a man described as a community leader, but who police say was a criminal suspected of many crimes. In his brief address in the hot sun west of the mosque, Bakr blamed the media for publishing the wrong things about Guerra. He started off by saying that “Jaleel” worked tirelessly for the PNM in the last general elections.

Bakr said Guerra came to the mosque as a boy hooked on cocaine. The Muslimeen leader said he turned Guerra’s life around and credited him with taking children off the streets. “What happened to him is an act of jealousy,” said Bakr as he broke into tears before a stunned congregation. “This was a man who came from the ground right up. You think you knew him? Well, I knew him. He is irreplaceable in John John; I have found nobody to replace him. I have given up looking for somebody to replace him,” the Jamaat leader added. Bakr pleaded with his tribe to exercise self-restraint. “The police are responsible for the inquiries into his death. Let them do their job. We don’t need revenge. We don’t preach war, jealousy, hatred, envy, we don’t want any revenge. Do not go on any witch hunt, please do not go looking for the killers.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Guerra’s mother Louise Pierre who flew in from the United States with other siblings for the funeral. Guerra’s younger brother Marlon, who also came from the US, asked that no one seek revenge for the killing. “The men who did this will pay. God will be the judge, I feel it in my heart.” The funeral service outside the mosque was swift and on the signal from their leader, Muslimeen members placed the casket in the hearse for the walk to the Lapeyrouse Cemetery in Port-of-Spain. Throughout the walk, Bakr kept a stern face as he was surrounded by his members. Not since the killing of another high-ranking Muslimeen member, Abdul Kareen in St James in 1985, has there been such interest at the Jamaat. But the police did not only keep watch of the proceedings. They filmed everyone entering the cemetery. That caused many of the mourners to hide their faces, some even becoming highly annoyed at being filmed.