Prime Minister Patrick Manning

 

BASSETERRE, St Kitts - Pressing crime and security challenges facing the Caribbean Community were discussed at a special session yesterday ahead of the ceremonial opening of the four-day 27th Caricom Summit in St Kitts and Nevis.

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning, who has lead responsibility among Community leaders for crime and security matters, chaired the meeting.

Among the matters listed for discussion were new threats from cross-border crimes in narco-trafficking, gun-running, criminal deportees and mutual co-operation by the 15-member Community and the United States of America.

Manning was expected to share with his Caricom colleagues the outcome of a meeting he had last week with US vice-president Dick Cheney on mutual co-operation in the war against drug-trafficking and terrorism.

~~Adz:Left~~Manning told the Observer that the issues for consideration were "quite sensitive" and that he did not wish to compromise the discussion "on any aspect". But he emphasised the importance of "mutual respect" in the pursuit of structured co-operation between Caricom and the USA.

Yesterday's briefing session came ahead of a scheduled caucus of Heads of Government - possibly tomorrow - to deal more fully with the crime and security problems that have had varying traumatic developments in Community states like Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

No one would confirm whether Caricom would officially discuss the implications of last week's dramatic removal of Guyanese businessman Roger Khan from a prison in Suriname by US law enforcement agents. Khan was accused of being a major drug dealer.

Khan, according to his lawyers in Guyana and Suriname, was allegedly drugged and taken to the USA via Trinidad and Tobago's international airport at Piarco, from where he was flown in a waiting aircraft to Miami.

This was contrary to a claim by Suriname that Khan had been released from prison for deportation to Guyana.
The governments of Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and

Guyana have so far been officially mum on the development. Yesterday, Manning said he had no comment on the matter.
Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo was absent from the summit owing to pressing issues of national importance at home.

~~Adz:Right~~Yesterday's crime and security briefing by Manning was preceded by a meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-committee on External Trade and Economic negotiations, chaired for the first time by Jamaica's Portia Simpson Miller, who succeeded the retired P J Patterson last April.

She is to provide a report to a plenary session of the summit either today or tomorrow, according to conference sources.
When asked to confirm whether the signing ceremony for access to the Caribbean Single Market (CSM) by the

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States would take place as part of the opening ceremony, Secretary General Edwin Carrington said he was still "awaiting word" from the OECS chairman, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.

Most of the OECS leaders, including Spencer, were due to arrive within hours of the formal opening ceremony, and Carrington said that while he was expecting the signing to take place, he preferred to hear from Spencer.

The opening ceremony, scheduled to start at 4:00 pm, was expected to be a lengthy session with six Heads of Governments and Carrington listed to speak, before delegates attend a "welcome reception".