PM Kamla fires SAUTT boss

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced on Monday that the Government of Trinidad and Tiobago has fired the director of the Special Anti-Crime Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (SAUTT), Brigadier Peter Joseph.

The move, which is effective immediately, is to facilitate plans to restructure the elite police agency.

Speaking at the Piarco International Airport before leaving for New York where she will address the Millennium summit Tuesday, Persad-Bissessar said government wants to create a more coordinated approach to intelligence gathering.

She said Deputy Director Col. Albert Griffith will take charge of operational command.

Persad-Bissessar also announced that a steering committee will oversee the restructuring.

Its mandte will include "proper financial responsibility and accountability for over $1 billion spent by SAUTT to date; the need to reintegrate the civilians of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force and police personnel into other existing national security agencies and the streamlining and harmonisation of other intelligence operations into SAUTT".

The three-member committee will comprise Deputy Police Commissioner Stephen Williams, security consultant to SAUTT Dr Daniel Gibran and acting Chief of Strategic Studies in the Ministry of National Security, Julie Browne.

SAUTT was created by former Prime Minister Patrick Manning and there have been accusations that the agency spied on citizens, including persad-Bissessar.

Prior to the announcement of his dismissal, the head of the unit had written to the Prime Minister to assure her and "the people of T&T that SAUTT has never 'spied' on her or any Member of Parliament."

Joseph denied that her telephone was tapped and said he is preppared to have an indepdendent audit of SAUTT in order to end the "unfounded, malicious rumors".

Joseph insisted in a media release that SAUTT is an intelligence -led organisation, which is committed to the fight against serious crime.

"We gather criminal intelligence to support our work, but our resources are solely used to target criminals. We do not, and have never, used our resources to 'spy' on any Member of Parliament or any other law-abiding citizen," the release stated.