Dear Editor,
My name is Abdul Kadir (formerly Aubrey Michael Seaforth), and I was born in 1951, in Guyana, South America. I embraced Islam in 1974, changed my name and got married. My family at present consists of one wife, 9 children, 26 grandchildren, and a few adopted children. My entire family are practising Muslims. I never visited the United States of America, but transited Miami in 1996 on my way to and from the islands of The Bahamas.
Around February 17, 2007, I met two ‘USA based’ Muslim brothers separately in the street in Guyana. One of them turned out to be the confidential informant (CI) who was twice convicted and had a suspended life sentence from which he was trying to obtain relief by having other persons convicted. The other was my co-defendant who told me that he had known my name from a mutual friend in the USA (and that they attended the same mosque) who had asked him to visit me whenever he came to Guyana. When I met them, I never knew that they had known each other.
On February 18, 2007, I received a telephone call from my co-defendant saying he was in my area and wanted to visit me on a courtesy call. He came with the other Muslim, the CI and their visit lasted a few minutes.
On February 19, 2007, I was again visited by the CI and my co-defendant who came to my area (which was approximately 66 miles from where they were staying). We had business discussions with me telling them about my plans to build a mosque in my area and my co-defendant telling me about their intended trade with items which were available specifically in my area. The CI then introduced a video to me and asked me if I was interested in being a part of their plan to blow up fuel tanks at the JFK Airport. I told them that I had absolutely no interest in their plan. My position was corroborated by the CI in a recorded telephone call to my co-defendant the next day on February 20. This evidence was not admitted into trial.
Subsequent conversations between myself and the CI when he was back in the USA and in Guyana (recorded and unrecorded) indicate me telling the CI and my co-defendant that it was unislamic to do what they had in mind and that I was opposed to the idea and that I did not support it. Also, recorded conversations between my co-defendant, another Guyanese, and a Trinidadian (on different occasions) confirm that I was not part of their plan and their alleged plot. These were also not admitted as evidence into trial. The CI and my co-defendant returned to the USA and came back to Guyana a few months later during May 2007, on their way to Trinidad. They offered me a free ticket to travel with them and I declined the offer on the day before they left for Trinidad.
While in Trinidad, the CI and my co-defendant called me and offered to contribute the ticket money to my mosque-building account. I accepted the offer, but never received anything from them.
In June 2007, I was in transit in Trinidad on my way to Venezuela to attend a religious conference in Iran when I was arrested. There, in Trinidad, I was jailed for 13 months then extradited to the USA where I was put on trial for conspiracy, found guilty, and sentenced to “life imprisonment.” I now languish in prison, away from my family and all, stripped of my human dignity and rights, while still trying to understand everything.
Yours faithfully,
Abdul Kadir