Former national security minister Gary Griffith says the recent documentary by Al Jazeera, Caribbean to Caliphate, was “unfortunately inaccurate.”
Griffith, who is featured in the documentary, said it was obvious there was a preconceived objective to label T&T as a hub for terrorist activities.
“Out of the 25-minute documentary, only two minutes were used to give a cosmetic perception that the documentary attempted to be balanced, whilst the majority of the other 23 minutes comprised the views on the other side, from some of those who became terrorists, to those who are sympathetic, supportive and even of persons of interest, trying to use a feeble attempt of an American accent to sound convincing,” he said.
Griffith said he told interviewer, Juliana Ruhfus that most of the men who left T&T were gang members.
Also interviewed was Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, however, he was not featured.
“So it was obvious what the intent was by Al Jazeera, which is indeed unfortunate, as such a documentary could be seen by over a billion viewers worldwide in over half of the countries in the world, which can cause an unwarranted impact on our country, inclusive of trade, tourism and investment,” he said.
“Apart from actual terrorist acts, one of the most harmful effects of terrorism is the fear of terrorism in a country.”
He said T&T should not be fearful but careful as terrorism is a global phenomenon, in total contrast to what was pushed in the Al Jazeera documentary.
He added that T&T is one of the few countries in this century that has not felt the impact of terrorism.
“The past and present governments have done virtually all that is required to combat and denounce terrorism, none of which was stated in the documentary, which included adhering to UN Resolution 2178, which was signed by the previous administration and rightfully continued and enforced by the present one, and they must be commended for this,” Griffith said.
