THE last time Trinidad and Tobago reached the brink of qualifying for the World Cup finals, joy turned into sorrow.

That was on November 19, 1989, when the Strike Squad lost 1-0 to USA at the National Stadium.

A feeling of frustration, compounded by uneasiness over the harsh reality of salary cuts that stemmed from International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed structural adjustment, prevailed long after.

Seven months later, on July 27, 1990 to be exact, as Trinidad and Tobago squared up against Jamaica in the Shell Caribbean Cup final at the same venue, Port of Spain was turned into a veritable battle zone after Jamaat al Muslimeen insurrectionists invaded the Red House and held Prime Minister Arthur N.R. Robinson and other Parliamentarians hostage.

With international focus on TnT and time ticking towards Saturday’s crucial home-leg World Cup qualifying showdown between the Warriors and Bahrain at the very same National Stadium (since named in honour of Olympic gold medallist Hasely Crawford, Montreal 1976, 100m sprint), and with a growing sense of unease among a population traumatised by rampant official corruption and crime -- record murders, kidnappings, bombings, extortions and a wide assortment of other crimes -- the security forces, perhaps prompted to act by a government under pressure to arrest the desperate situation, have decided to take no chances.

Acting on intelligence reports and reacting to Bakr’s controversial Eid Day message with respect to the enforced collection of zakaat (Islamic tax) from Muslim businessmen and other Islamic groups, the security forces rolled in to the Muslimeen’s compound on Thursday, dug up concrete and tore down walls in search of arms and ammunition.

Simultaneous searches were conducted at mosques in Laventille; Morvant; Munroe Road, Cunupia; Crown Trace and Boodram Street, Enterprise; Rio Claro; Palo Seco and Point Fortin.

Police claimed they have found a hand grenade, a high-powered assault rifle, about 700 rounds of assorted ammunition and walkie- talkies during the raid on the Muslimeen’s compound on Mucurapo Road.

The raids followed Bakr’s arrest at around 12.30 a.m. on Tuesday. He was kept in custody until Thursday when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNichols in the Port of Spain Eight Magistrate’s Court, where he was charged with one count of sedition under Chapter 11:04 Section 3 (1) C and D of the Sedition Act, and three counts of incitement.

Bakr came into national prominence when Muslimeen rebels bombed Police Headquarters, invaded Parliament and took command of the country’s lone television station at the time, Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT) on July 27, 1990.

Prime Minister Robinson was shot in the leg while being held hostage.

Member of Parliament Leo DesVignes, who was also shot, had died.

While Parliament was invaded, Muslimeen leader Bakr and a group of his men simultaneously took command of TTT on Maraval Road.

The late evening drama unfolded soon after Police Headquarters was bombed, which triggered chaos.

The Shell Caribbean Cup football final was aborted and the Armed Forces were deployed into action.

Acting President Emmanuel J. Carter announced a State of Emergency, accompanied by a strict curfew, which was gradually lifted until normalcy was eventually restored after Bakr and his 118 cohorts surrendered following the signing of a crude amnesty, which subsequently held in court.

The 119 insurrectionists (among them current national cocah Jamaal Shabbazz), who were locked up at separate jails, were released, their lawyers having successfully argued the validity of the amnesty in court.

The State had argued that the amnesty was granted under duress.

During the initial moments of staging the coup and an address by Bakr on the State television, scores of businesses, particularly in Port of Spain, were looted and burnt.

Incidentally, during the insurrection crisis, Bakr had demanded that Cabinet Minister Winston Dookeran replace Robinson as Prime Minister.

Dookeran acted as PM until the situation was brought under control and Robinson was restored too as Head of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) Government.

Dookeran, who was recently elected as Political Leader of the Opposition United National Congress (UNC), is at present locked in a fight with the party’s chairman, Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, to take over as Opposition Leader.

Panday has steadfastly refused to hand over the position and Dookeran, who is heavily backed by FIFA Vice-President and special advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF), Austin Jack Warner, does not have the backing from sufficient elected Opposition Members to petition President George Maxwell Richards to effect the change.

It should be noted that at the time of the coup both then Opposition Leader Patrick Manning and Panday were absent from Parliament.

Panday, along with a group of MPs, had in 1988 severed with the ruling Robinson-led NAR, which had swept into power in 1986 by a landslide 33-3 defeat of the People’s National Movement (PNM).

Back to the present, National Security officials believed that with such hype over the TnT vs Bahrain encounter, the occasion provides the ideal diversion for terrorist activity.

It is also believed that five low-intensity bombings over the past five months in the Port of Spain capital could have been simulation exercises for something bigger.

US Intelligence, TnT Mirror understands, has not ruled out logistic support out of neighbouring oil-rich Venezuela for activities that could destabilise TnT, which would amount to a threat to Uncle Sam’s multi-billion dollar investments in the lucrative local oil and gas sector.

Meanwhile, some Trinidadians believe that the US will use, even create, any opportunity to dig in its toes in TnT to ward off any economic or other threats from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has crossed swords with US President George W. Bush over their rival ideologies and economic policies which impact on the region.