A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

TRINIDAD: Suspect in alleged NY airport plot surrenders

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) _ A fourth suspect in an alleged plot to attack New York's John F. Kennedy Airport surrendered Tuesday in Trinidad as some U.S. authorities raised concerns about the potential for a Caribbean terror threat.

Abdel Nur, a Guyanese national accused of seeking support for the alleged plot from the leader of a radical Muslim group in Trinidad, smiled as he turned himself in at a police station outside the capital of Port-of-Spain.

Nur has become Exhibit A for those who fear deep social inequality in the Caribbean could foster virulent anti-U.S. sentiment and even make the islands another recruiting ground for terrorists.

The 57-year-old suspect, who worked odd jobs at a currency exchange house and lived in a poor neighborhood back in Guyana, seemed to dismiss such concerns as he entered a courthouse later Tuesday. "It is a conspiracy and a set up," a smiling Nur told reporters.

Trinidad, which is about 6 percent Muslim, is home to Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical group that staged the only Islamic revolt in the Western Hemisphere, a deadly 1990 coup attempt sparked by still unresolved land claims.

Nur allegedly met with the group's leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, in an unsuccessful effort to get support for the airport attack. Abu Bakr told The Associated Press on Monday that his group had no connection the New York plot.

CUBA: Healthier looking Castro gives long TV interview, does not mention return to power

HAVANA (AP) _ Speaking slowly and focusing on past memories rather than his recovery and future, a healthier looking Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban television Tuesday, giving the world its first long look at him since he fell ill and gave up power last summer.

The 80-year-old's now grayer beard and hair were well-trimmed and he seemed rested and alert _ no longer the picture of a man on the verge of death. But he did not speak in depth about international issues and did not mention any plans to govern Cuba again.

"I tell my compatriots, I'm now doing what I should be doing," Castro said, during an official interview with Randy Alonso, host of the government's nightly "Round Table" program, that was taped Monday and lasted about 50 minutes. "There are no secrets."

But his condition and exact ailment have remained state secrets since July 31, when Castro announced he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was stepping aside in favor of a provisional government headed by his 76-year-old brother Raul, the defense minister.

Sometimes grinning in awe and sometimes listening intently, Alonso got Castro talking by asking open-ended questions in a soft tone. At one point Alonso said the ailing leader was in good spirits and Castro agreed.

HAITI: Shooting spree wounds 5, spreads panic in capital

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Heavily armed gunmen in a pickup truck shot at unsuspecting bystanders in an upscale neighborhood, wounding five and spreading panic in what police said Tuesday was a plot to destabilize the troubled Caribbean nation.

The shootings Sunday and Monday terrified residents in the leafy Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville and stoked fears of a return to lawlessness following months of calm that resulted from a crackdown by U.N. peacekeepers on gangs earlier this year.

Police spokesman Frantz Lerebours said the gunmen entered Haiti from the neighboring Dominican Republic over the weekend. They were later seen speeding through Petionville and firing at crowds of people with a silencer-equipped firearm, sending onlookers fleeing for cover. At least five people were shot and wounded.

"They're trying to create panic so that insecurity will reign," Lerebours told reporters.

The attack came days after Haitian police and U.N. peacekeepers intercepted 925 pounds (420 kilograms) of cocaine in a coastal town in Haiti's biggest drug seizure in more than a decade. Two Colombians, five Haitian police officers and four civilians were arrested for alleged trafficking.

President Rene Preval has pledged to go after drug traffickers and corrupt government officials in a bid to restore security and bring jobs to the poorest and most unstable country in the Americas, which is struggling to recover from a bloody 2004 revolt.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: New blood tests needed after delays ruin survey into polluted site

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) _ Blood samples from children in one of the world's most polluted places will have to be retaken, prompting fears that cleanup will be further delayed at the site nicknamed "the Dominican Chernobyl," researchers said Tuesday.

Testing delays ruined the samples of 230 children living in the port town of Haina, where run-off from a former battery recycling plant has poisoned scores of people, said Steve Osborne, a spokesman for the Montefiore Medical Center in New York.

Samples of their blood were taken in March and shipped to a Santo Domingo university, but analysis was delayed as researchers looked for adequate testing materials. The samples were finally sent to Montefiore last month, but it was too late to take accurate readings.

Researchers had hoped to compare the samples with blood taken from youngsters shortly after the plant closed in 1997. Those showed children averaging rates of 71 micrograms per deciliter of lead in the blood _ more than seven times higher than the World Health Organization maximum.

Local children who play on lead-ridden fields and live in homes flooded by contaminated run-off have suffered debilitating diseases and brain damage, said Steve Null, director of the New York-based nonprofit Friends for Lead-Free Children.

Environmental tests taken last year in the town about 16 kilometers (10 miles) west of the Dominican capital revealed soil samples that still were almost 50 percent lead, Null said.

That earned the town a spot alongside the Ukrainian nuclear disaster on a list of the world's 10 most polluted places, published last year by the Blacksmith Institute, an international environmental group.

PUERTO RICO: Islanders swindled in pyramid scheme, lawyer says

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) _ Authorities are investigating a wide-ranging fraud scheme in Puerto Rico whose targets included members of a speed-reading group and wealthy residents, officials said Tuesday.

Federal officials recently issued a search-and-seizure order against a shareholder of San Juan-based Rys International, one of two shell companies allegedly involved in swindling scores of islanders in recent years, said attorney Alfredo Castellanos, who is representing several alleged victims.

The first investors in the bogus investment scheme by Rhys and Global Reach Trading were members of a speed-reading group that included several doctors, as well as an electrician and a postal employee.

At least 14 Puerto Rican investors contributed almost US$2.5 million (euro1.8 million), lured by the promise of high returns, a lawsuit stated.

The office of the U.S. Attorney in San Juan is taking over the fraud case from local authorities, Castellanos said. The federal office said it could not comment on an ongoing probe.

Recently, Puerto Rican officials launched an investigation into another company with ties to Global Reach Trading, said Alfredo Padilla, chief of the Office of the Commisioner of Financial Institutions in Puerto Rico.

Owners of the company, called CIA for "Christ in Action," claimed they were vice presidents and Jesus was president, according to court records.