Caption: Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Alicia Chamely
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is reaffirming her government’s resolve to tackle all forms of terrorism.
In an official statement on Wednesday in remembrance of September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States of America, she stated, “Today, as Prime Minister once more, I reaffirm my government’s resolve to confront this menace in all its evolving forms.”
Persad-Bissessar stated, “On this 24th anniversary, on behalf of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago, I honour their memory, extend prayers to their families, and reaffirm our unwavering solidarity with the people and Government of the United States of America.”
“In our hemisphere, terrorism now also takes the face of narco-trafficking, arms smuggling, and transnational organised crime. These modern scourges are weapons of terror that destroy lives, destabilise societies, and rob our children of their future,” she stated.
Addressing her open willingness to work with any other country to eliminate the threat of terrorism, she said, “My Government is committed to working shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States and other international and regional partners to defeat these threats. We will remain vigilant and resilient, defending our people and our values without fear or hesitation.”
Persad-Bissessar paid recognition to the close to 3,000 lives that were lost, 14 of whom were citizens of T&T.
She said their passing was a “painful reminder that terrorism recognises no borders, no creed, and humanity.”
Persad-Bissessar said, “May the souls of the victims of September 11 rest in eternal peace. May God comfort their families, and may He continue to bless and protect Trinidad and Tobago, and all nations and peoples who have endured the inhumanity of terrorism, even as together we condemn its barbarism and commit ourselves to eradicating it from our world.”
On September 11, 2001, the radical Islamic group al-Qaeda carried out four targeted suicide attacks on the United States.
Four commercial flights were hijacked by 19 terrorists. The first two planes crashed in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan, New York. One crashed into the Pentagon, Virginia. One crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers fought against the hijackers.
The attacks would claim the lives of 2,996 people, making it the largest terror attack in the Western Hemisphere. The attacks would serve as the catalyst of the US’s war against terror, which would see the execution of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
