Bin Laden’s death great blow to terrorism – PPP/ C

The People’s Progressive Party says that the death of Osama bin Laden is a great blow to international terrorism. Bin Laden, the most wanted man for over a decade, met his end when United States forces attacked a compound in which he was hiding in Pakistan.

Bin Laden and the al-Qaida network which he headed admitted responsibility for the brutal attack in the U.S., on September 11, 2001, in which some three thousand persons perished, including many Guyanese and Muslims.

The PPP/C, in its release, expressed hope that, with bin Laden’s death, the conditions which gave rise to such people and organizations would be removed.

“The fight against oppression, poverty, and recognizing the cultural plurality/ diversity around the world are important to ensure that the breeding grounds of terrorism are eliminated.

The death of bin Laden is another example to the world that terrorism is not a mechanism that can bring about any positive changes in society, and should never be used as a means of struggle,” the release added.

The death of Osama bin Laden had been announced by American President Barack Obama in an address to that nation on May 1, after DNA tests confirmed that the slain man was indeed bin Laden. This new revelation recalls memories of the tragic 9/11 incident orchestrated by bin Laden. Relatives of those victims that perished in that inferno can perhaps now find closure.

They continue to grapple with the loss of loved ones who were trapped in buildings set alight after planes driven by suicidal al-Qaida pilots crashed into the twin towers.

Of the 3,000 killed, 25 were Guyanese.

These were: former national middle-order batsman Nizam Hafiz, who worked on the 94th floor of tower one; accountant Anett Dataram, 24, called ` Priya’, formerly of 265 Patentia Housing Scheme and of Ozone Park, New York; Ronald and Kamini Singh, who worked at Windows on the World, on the 107th floor of one of the twin towers; Shiv Shankar of Richmond Hill; Patrick Adams, a former Guyana Defence Force senior non-commissioned officer who worked at Fuji Bank as a security officer on the 89th floor; John Charles, who also worked as a security officer at the WTC; Babita Guman and Sita Shewnarine, who worked on the 97th floor at Fiduciary Trust in the southern tower; Joyce and Patricia Stanton; Navy Information Systems technician Kris Romeo Bishundat, 23, who was of Guyanese parentage and was stationed at the Pentagon when one of the planes crashed into the building; Vanavah Thompson, who was assigned to Marsh USA and was last seen on the 73rd floor; Hardai Parbhu, 42, also called Chandra, who was employed by Avon Financial Services Group Inc, which operated from the 92nd, 100th and 105th floors of the southern tower; Ameena Rasool, who worked with the Marsh and Maskan Insurance Company on the 98th floor of one of the twin towers; Ricknauth Jaggernauth, who had been employed at NXT Interiors on the 104th floor of one of the towers (he was formerly of Free Yard, Port Mourant, and was a resident of 164 Pennsylvania Ave, Brooklyn, New York); Shivonne Mentis, who resided at Hollis, Queens, and who worked with Marsh Enterprise on the 93rd floor of the north tower; Astrid Sohan, who worked with Marsh and McLennan in one of the towers; Sarah Khan, a 32- year-old mother of two, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor of the north tower and lived in South Ozone Park, New York; Rudy Bacchus, a 48- year-old stockbroker who was attending an early morning Risk Water conference at the Windows on the World restaurant on the 107 floor; Amarnauth Latchman, who lived in Long Island and worked at the WTC complex; Pamela Boyce, 43, an assistant vice president for the accounting firm of Carr Futures, which was located on the 29th floor.

The announcement of the terrorist’s death has, no doubt, brought new flashes of pain to some of the relatives of the victims, who have stated that they now feel a sense of relief, knowing the head of al-Qaida is now dead.

“Seeing those buildings going down was like seeing my sister go down. She was all part of it,” the brother of Hardai Parbhu said.

“She was the love of the family, very caring. She was better off than the rest of us, and she helped,” was how Kenneth Persaud described his sister. “It is very painful for us that she died so tragically,” a grieving Persaud told media operatives while recalling his sister’s death.