By Francis Joseph, Newsday TT

FIVE former Chiefs of Defence Staff and a retired Coast Guard Commander were yesterday awarded General Service Medals for the roles they played in quelling the 1990 attempted coup in which the Jamaat Al Muslimeen threatened to overthrow the democratically elected Government of the then Prime Minister ANR Robinson.

Coincidentally, it was Robinson as President of the Republic, who presented the medals to the “honourable men” at President’s House yesterday for the roles they played during the period July 28 to December 1990. The recipients were Brigadier General Joseph Theodore, Major General Ralph Brown, Rear Admiral Richard Kelshall, Brigadier Carl Alfonso, Captain Anthony Franklin, and Brigadier John Sandy.

But the man who headed the Defence Force during the 1990 insurrection was Brigadier Joseph Theodore.

Speaking with Newsday after the function, Theodore said he had been involved in negotiations with Bilaal Abdullah, the Muslimeen man in charge at the Red House where Robinson and Members of Parliament were held hostage. Yasin Abu Bakr was in charge at TTT.

Theodore added, “there were many a time when I was at a losts for words as to what to say or how to direct the negotiations. As it turned out, I received a lot of support from the officers at headquarters.

The result showed that we were able to drag out the hostage taking to the point where the hostage takers themselves were anxious to get out. That was really the plan, it was real demanding though,”the former CDS added.