Word: bakr
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...When police replied with tear gas, Palestinians retaliated with stones. The police then charged onto the Temple Mount, went berserk and gunned down Palestinians at close range. (Arab doctors later announced that one victim was shot 14 times). "They were shooting people from ten meters away," said Ala Abu Bakr, 17, who was shot in the arm and the back. Abu Bakr crawled into al-Aqsa mosque, where he and other Palestinians lay for nearly two hours before being rescued...
...seeds of the crisis were planted eight years ago after a former policeman named Lennox Phillip went to Canada to study engineering and returned to Trinidad as Yasin Abu Bakr, an ardent Islamic radical. Bakr soon became the leader of the Jamaat al-Muslimeen, or Group of Muslims. The Islamic splinter group, with few ties to the mainstream Muslims who make up 6% of the Trinidad and Tobago population of 1.3 million, espoused a potent mixture of religious fundamentalism and left-wing politics. The self-styled "Imam" traveled to Libya and was a vocal supporter of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi...
...Bakr's anger turned to action on the evening of July 27, when he and more than 70 of his men stormed the Trinidad and Tobago TV studios, a mile from their mosque. At the same time, a powerful car bomb gutted the downtown police headquarters, and another group of gunmen seized the parliament building, taking Robinson and seven Cabinet ministers hostage. At 6:18 p.m., Bakr appeared on state-owned TV and announced that his "troops" had overthrown the government. Later he demanded that Robinson resign, new elections be held and an amnesty be granted to his rebel band...
...shock of the news sank in, Trinidadians went on a weekend looting spree that left Port-of-Spain's main shopping street a shambles. But the popular uprising that Bakr had counted on never came, and he and his men soon found themselves surrounded by troops and without food. On the fifth day Bakr agreed to release Robinson, 63, who had been shot in the leg and suffers from diabetes and glaucoma. Next day Bakr and his men freed the remaining hostages and gave themselves...
...government had to use a bit of diplomatic sleight of hand to resolve the standoff. Spokesman Shaw admitted that Robinson had agreed to Bakr's terms, but stressed that the Prime Minister had endorsed the demands under extreme duress, making them nonbinding. "Tricked, double-crossed, whatever you want to call it. It is foolish to quibble with ethics when you are dealing with situations of this kind," said Shaw. "Why not promise them the moon and the stars...