Trinidad drops murder charge against Islamic chief

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Trinidad and Tobago prosecutors on Thursday dropped a murder charge against the leader of an Islamic group that staged a bloody coup attempt 20 years ago.

Roger Gaspard, director of public prosecutions, said the state did not have the evidence to proceed with a murder charge against Yasin Abu Bakr and another member of the Jamaat al Muslimeen group in the 1998 slaying of a mechanic.

"After reviewing the notes of evidence ... I find the chances of a successful prosecution based on the evidence to be negligible or nil," Gaspard told The Associated Press. He declined to provide specifics.

Late last month, a judge ruled there was cause to …