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File photo of an SVG passport.
File photo of an SVG passport.
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The views expressed herein are those of the writer and do not represent the opinions or editorial position of I-Witness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].

Before I start this letter I must state that, unfortunately, since PM Ralph Gonsalves told us that he sometimes tells lies,  I have never believed a word he has spoken without reliable confirmation from elsewhere, or documentary evidence of such from someone else’s hand.

I apologise to the people of SVG, at home and in the Diaspora if you think my opening  statement is rude and disrespectful. But must hasten to add the disrespect comes from the man himself,   about himself, in his own self admission of being a liar.

Much the same I am suspect of anything he writes since he put his name to the teachers contract and then later admitted that he knew when signing  it, that is  was unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.  I am also really  sorry about being able to say that as well.

I am sorry for Vincentians everywhere that our Prime Minister  put himself in the position of anyone being able to say such things, in repeating his very own words.  May I propose such revelations by him may have brought us all into disrepute, and the whole Caribbean, perhaps the English- and Spanish-speaking world laughs at us.  His followers say they don’t mind all that because he is building us an airport.  They don’t even mind the accusations of rape and accusations of sexual assault, because he is building us an airport. They even had what was described as a rape rally, remember that?

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Now, my repeating his own words will make him as mad as hell, I hope he isn’t mad at me again,  because I am only repeating his own words.  I don’t behave so,  so why must I put up with him behaving so?

Today, Jan. 7, 2015,  the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government denied a statement by the United States Department of Treasury that a former Iranian national whose activities are being closely monitored had acquired citizenship of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

He went on to tell reporters that “the records of the citizenship and residency department of the Office of the Prime Minister showed there are four Iranians by birth who are granted citizenship of St. Vincent and the Grenadines” during the period 1997-1998.  He absolutely denied that it was possible that this Iranian had Vincentian citizenship or a Vincentian Passport.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves told a news conference that Minister of Foreign Affairs Sen. Camillo Gonsalves has been advised by him to inform the US State and Treasury Departments of these facts.

My problem with that is,  how can we be sure of the truth of that statement? Are they facts, how do we not know that someone didn’t issue  Iranians with passports, false or unrecorded citizenship papers, how do we know the truth about that.  With all the passports that were burnt at Camden Park,  what evidence do we have that none of that series are missing, some even perhaps not burnt, some sitting in a drawer at someone’s home.  How can we be sure?  Those passports should never have been destroyed, they should have been kept, the corners clipped and stamped cancelled on every page, only then could we be sure. Only then we would have been able to truthfully say we can account for every passport.

He further told the press gathering that  the Vincentian citizenship granted to an Iranian in 1997 was to the 10-year-old son of a medical practitioner and his wife born in Bangladesh. That would have been during the NDP regime, they didn’t sell it did they?

I knew that when I wrote my article!

Gonsalves said that the medical doctor was employed at the hospital here and that the son is now a medical doctor now residing overseas while the other three “Vincentians of Iranian birth” are a 47-year-old barber, a 43-year-old mother and a 20-year-old son.

I knew that when I wrote my article!

Gonsalves said “Each of these four applications for citizenship of St. Vincent and the Grenadines was supported by references from reputable professionals in this country. Of these four Iranian-born citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, (the) one (who) is a medical practitioner … is the only one of the four who currently has a valid passport of St. Vincent.

So there we are no NDP hanky panky, but I could have told you all that myself, I already had all those details.

My letter  posted earlier this week was followed by an article by I-Witness News.

My letter based on the US Treasury Press Release, blew the gaff wide open, as they say.

The United States Treasury Department said that Hossein Mansour Zeidi, 49, is among nine individuals and entities under various Iran-related authorities under surveillance for their “support of Iranian government sanctions evasion efforts and human rights-related abusers, including those engaged in censorship”.

The readers need to remember all the articles I wrote regarding SVG taking money from Iran for the Argyle airport, in return for our vote at the UN supporting them when they were being considered for sanctions for killing Christians for being Christians. We inevitably abstained from voting, which was a support for them. It’s all there in the UN records, I have posted it all  before.

The United States Treasury Department further said that Zeidi holds a St. Kitts and Nevis passport, number RE0003553 as well as St. Vincent and the Grenadines citizenship and he carries the alias Hosein Zeidi and Hossein Mansour Zeidi. He has a United Arab Emirates (UAE) national identification number 444169.

The Treasury Department said Zeidi was “responsible for converting foreign currency into US bank notes.

“The Iranian government contracted with Zeidi and Seyed Kamal Yasini to convert Iranian funds denominated in non-Iranian local currency into US dollars,” the Treasury Department said.

“To date, these individuals and their network have effected the delivery of hundreds of millions of dollars in US dollar bank notes to the Iranian government in violation of E.O. 13622,” it added.

But Prime Minister Gonsalves insisted that “none of these four Iranian-born citizens is the person who is referred to in a US Treasury Department bulletin as Hossein Zeidi otherwise known as Hossein Mansour Zeidi.

I ask would  the US Treasury make such a statement if it was untrue, who are we going to believe. Would they make such a rash statement without some knowledge?  Do they tell us lies?

Gonsalves went on to say “None of them is this individual who it is alleged in the Treasury bulletin … to be an Iranian by birth, or who is an Iranian citizen and who holds citizenship from St. Kitts including a passport from St. Kitts which they have listed and the allegation that he is also a citizenship of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

Ok we now accept that Mr Gonsalves, we fully accept that.

Gonsalves said “our citizenship and passport record and data bases reveal that the allegation that he is a citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is incorrect. He is also not a holder of a passport of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

I have been told that all the citizenship files are all held in the prime minister’s office, every single one of them. I am also told that he approves every new citizen. So therefore he would not need  to look very far in the files or his own memory to know if Iranians were granted citizenship during his stewardship.   We have already covered the passport situation, there is a big black hole regarding our passports, because of the raging inferno at Camden Park.

Gonsalves went on to say that the alleged date of birth of Zeidi is Sept. 11, 1965 noting “this date of birth does not correspond to any of the dates of birth of the four Iranian born citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

OK PM, we accept that he is not one of them, you do go on repeating yourself.

“The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines wishes to make it clear that it does not and cannot discriminate against any person in relation to the grant or withholding of citizenship of St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the basis of nationality or place of origin.

Sorry but I think they can, and I think they do, and they don’t even have to give a reason, just a rejection letter. They can reject anyone they should so wish, just as they can grant to anyone the so should wish. As long as it is constitutional, and I have my doubts about even the constitution being observed and respected when one looks at how this government have set up companies in contravention of the constitution, PetroCaribe SVG for instance.

“The universally acknowledged qualifications for citizenship are present in our laws and are laid out in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Citizenship Act,” Gonsalves said.

He said that unlike St. Kitts and Nevis and other Caribbean countries, his country “does not grant economic citizenship by whatever name it is called”.

I ask would that also cover issuing passports for political reasons? How about if someone has one of the passports which were supposed to of been burnt?

He said the former government had instituted an honorary citizenship programme and “as everyone knows very early in the life of our administration, the law in relation to this program  was repealed and the program of honorary or economic citizenship was discontinued”.

Then lets question why Dave Ames and his family got Vincentian citizenship,  wasn’t that a form of economic passport.  Would he have still got a Vincentian passport if he hadn’t sunk a whole lot of screaming investors’ money into the holiday resort at Buccament.  Don’t say because he lived here for seven years, because that is an untruth that has been used before. Ames never lived in SVG for more than an average of 4 days a month. He lives in Essex, in South East England,  all the time and I know that for a fact, I could take you to his front door.

But back to the Iranian agent, Hossein Mansour Zeidi, is it true that he visited the Vincentian Embassy in Cuba in 2010?

I have heard it voiced and seen it written that is where the US$1 million in cash came from that was hawked around Kingstown, I wouldn’t even go there, it’s an allegation that is un-provable even if true.  So as such, I must state that we cannot entertain that even as a possibility. So I must ask people to stop talking about that and to stop writing about it also. Please don’t put it in any comments about this letter.

Nothing written here is written with hate, malice or spite. No person referred to or not mentioned, or even by inference, is directly or indirectly accused of any illegal act, neither do I mean to express or imply such.

Peter Binose

The opinions presented in this content belong to the author and may not necessarily reflect the perspectives or editorial stance of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].

3 replies on “Now we know a lot more about nothing regarding the Iranian with ‘Vincentian citizenship’ ”

  1. Peter Binose wants US to believe that the Iranian , who is in possession of a St. Kitts & Nevis
    passport , and the number of that passport is known to all & sundry .

    Perhaps Binose can explain to readers of this Online Newspaper , why the JAMAICA OBSERVER article made no mention of the Iranian having a Vincentian Passport . Binose
    wants US to believe that the Jamaica Observer deliberately refused to mention that the Iranian
    had a Vincentian Passport .

    Binose , since you are certain that the Iranian is in possession of a Vincentian Passport please publish the number of his Vincentian Passport . There are important pieces missing in this Puzzle . First as I have mentioned before is the fact that the Jamaica Observer never ever mentioned an iota of evidence that the Iranian was or is in possession of a Vincentian Passport .

    YOU would have US believe next that the JAMAICA OBSERVER is doing the bidding of the Prime Minister of St. Vincent & the Grenadines , by not disclosing that the Iranian also had in
    his possession a Vincentian passport . This is very , very farfetched .

    YOU would also have US believe that your Cut & Paste job of having a Photo of a Vincentian
    Passport , authenticates your Nancy Story . Come on Binose , People are not that Stupid .
    Write the Jamaica Observer , and ask them why they deliberately did not mention the fact that
    the Iranian also had in his Possession a Vincentian Passport .

    Let me once again state the fact that in your Cut & Paste job , you did not provide the Passport number of the St. Vincent Passport . Let me remind you again , the number of the St. Kitts & Nevis Passport was listed . If as you state the Iranian is in possession of a Vincentian
    Passport , why was in not listed in the document purported to be from the US Government ???
    Why did the Jamaica Observer fail to state that the Iranian had a Vincentian Passport ad also as in the case of the S. Kitts & Nevis Passport list ne number of that Passport ????

    BINOSE YOU ARE BEATING A DEAD HORSE , IT DIED WHEN YOU COULD NOT

    PROVIDE THE PASSPORT NUMBER OF THE PURPORTED VINCENTIAN PASSPORT

    I EXPECT THAT NOW YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE US A PHOTO OF A VINCENTIAN

    PASSPORT WITH A NUMBER STATING THAT THIS IS THE NUMBER ON THE IRANIAN

    PASSPORT , BUT IT WILL BE TO LATE NOW FOR YOU TO DO ANOTHER CUT & PASTE

    JOB ON A DOCUMENT PURPORTING TO BE FROM THE US GOVERNMENT .

    The gist of what I am stating is that in this particular Issue anything you now try to add , will be
    have absolutely no credibility . So stop beating this Dead Horse .

    Regards nevertheless ,

    Veridical

    1. Obviously Horace you are having v?ridicus hallucinations again. How would I know why the Jamaica Observer never mentioned the Vincentian passport, probably because no one else mentioned a passport, including the US press release. What I know is that the United States Treasury Press Department in their press release referred to a Vincentian citizenship. PM Ralph Gonsalves has referred to the US referring to the Vincentian passport in the Vincentian Newspaper today [they never did], he acknowledges the US press release, and I believe wanting to keep the matter within the family he has asked his son to get in touch with the US Press Office about the matter.

      I don’t want you to believe anything about the Jamaica Observer, that is obviously all part of your hallucinations.

      The St. Kitts and Nevis Passport number passport number quoted by the US Treasury Press Agency probably was supplied by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis when asked for it, or the CIA has such information. The SVG Unity Marxist Party government, probably haven’t supplied a passport number but never the less the CIA or whoever or whatever, referred his citizenship.

      I am unaware that I have ever said that the Iranian is in possession of a Vincentian passport. I have just put forward a number of scenarios and situations which are proven and actual fact, it appears everyone except you is willing to acknowledge. Your rantings are further part of your hallucinations of some kind of grandeur and superiority.

      Unfortunately you are far from that Horace, you are a proven and qualified idiot. I know it, even you know it, and certainly everyone else knows it.

      The Jamaica Observer has nothing whatsoever to do with SVG policy or ministerial action. The only relationship we have with Jamaica is that Gonsalves first wife is a born Jamaican and his son ‘the keep it in the family one’ is a Jamaican citizen and a Vincentian citizen, was also a US citizen but according to unconfirmed reports gave up the US citizenship. There were other children born to the Jamaican lady.

      It may surprise you that I did not choose the picture of a Vincentian passport, that was an editorial choice, the same photo was applied to articles that Gonsalves features in on this matter. Did he cut and post the same photo’s? Horace you really are a sick yard boy,

      Humber College did little for you, in fact you were a flop there as you are a flop in your real estate life.

      I cannot give you the passport number but if it exists I am sure the CIA will eventually give that as well.

      I have never said he had Vincentian a passport, I wrote “Does he have a Vincentian passport”? Neither did the Americans say he had a passport. We were talking about citizenship, and that discussion covered the burning of passports and why that was wrong.

      If a man has citizenship he may have a passport or not have a passport. Or a man can buy a passport from a shady Vincentian, a man who has a bunch of them held together with a big rubber band in his desk draw at home.

      Your ranting about the Jamiaca Observer shows that you are a sick boy and need help, sorry you will get none from me, but I am sure if you ask nicely, someone will help you when you visit SVG next.

      Name: Hossein ZEIDA
      AKA: Hosein ZEIDA
      AKA: Hossien Mansour Zeidi
      DOB: 11 September 1965
      Passport: RE0003553, St Kitts and Nevis
      Citizenship: St. Vincent and the Grenadines
      Citizenship: St. Kitts and Nevis
      Former Citizenship: Iranian
      National ID number, 444169, UAE

      Once again just to prove that Horace is telling lies again, or hallucinating, here is the actual US Treasury Press Release on the US Treasury website.

      http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl9731.aspx

      You will find everything word for word that I wrote is true to that press release, anything else I added because I thought it needed saying. In fact there is a lot more in my letter than worrying about the nonsense that this man write for cash payments.

      Horace, It’s no wonder you only get paid $100 for each article you try and protect against the truth.

      So Bugs Bunny, Micky Mouse, Simon, Veridical, or whatever you Horace decide to use in your support for the Marxist Monster Party.

      Good night

    2. Is “Veridical” capable of understanding what he reads? i read the article, read “Veridical” comment and went back to the article, because I wondered if I had missed something – namely that Peter Binose said that the Iranian had a Vincentian passport. I could find no such allegation. What Binose does say is that we cannot be sure that there never was such a passport, given that a number of expired passports were burned at Campden Park; and he further suggests what should have been the procedure for storing such cancelled passports. You may agree or disagree with that, but saying that we cannot prove that a statement is true is NOT the dame thing as saying that it is false. It is simply saying that we cannot prove it is true. It follows that we cannot prove it is untrue either. We just cannot prove it one way or the other.

      And yes, the Treasury Department’s Press Release does say that the Iranian had a St Kitts and Nevis passport, and it states the number of that passport – so presumably that is known to all and sundry who have read the Press Release. And the Treasury department’s Press Release also says that the Iranian had Vincentian citizenship (which the PM also denies). And no, it does not say that he had a Vincentian passport. Peter Binose asked a question – that is, did the Iranian, as a citizen, also receive a passport – which is not the same thing as saying that he DID have such a passport: a distinction which “Veridical” seems unable to grasp.

      And “Veridical” keeps on harping on what the Jamaica Observer reported. Peter Binose’s original piece quoted from the US Treasury Department’s Press Release. Presumably the Jamaican Observer, if it has a report on the matter, also got its information from the said press release. So I wrote in response to that article that the obvious thing to do was to go to the US Treasury Department’s press release and see what it said – not keep on harping on what the Jamaica Observer said or did not say. The original source of the information is not the Jamaica Observer, although Veridical accused Peter Binose, in a comment on that first article, of plagiarizing the Observer’s article; and this although Binose stated that the source was the US Treasury Department. So how”Veridical” arrived at that accusation i do not know, unless, in addition to reading what is not there he also does not know the meaning of plagiarism.

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