The release of 17 people detained for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister and three Government ministers does not affect the success of the State of Emergency, says Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.

He was speaking to the media yesterday following an inter-faith service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port of Spain, to mark the 50th anniversary of bicameralism. Ramlogan was the only Government official who spoke to the media.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy and Commissioner of Police (CoP) Dwayne Gibbs made their way to their vehicles following the ceremony, stopping briefly to exchange greetings with other officials present.

At the SoE press briefing yesterday, Sgt Wayne Mystar, public information officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, said the 16 men who were held for the alleged plot and who were detained under detention orders, will be released because of insufficient evidence.

Asked yesterday whether the release of these men would impact on what Government has described as a successful State of Emergency, Ramlogan said, "If July 1990 was averted by pre-emptive action on the part of the government of the day, I would have regarded that as a success and likewise by priority of reasoning, I regard this as a success."

Ramlogan said the Government will continue to stand by law enforcement officers.

"We continue to place our trust and confidence and faith and ability in the law enforcement agencies. No one, nothing is perfect, there's always room for improvement and we will continue to work with them and stand with them," he said.

Last Friday, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley called for the release of the 16 men detained saying an evaluation report discredited the entire assassination plot. Rowley did not say from where or whom he got the report but he asserted that this was evidence that the Prime Minister misled the nation.

When questioned, Ramlogan admitted that an evaluation report was submitted to the National Security Council. However, he said it was not certain if it is the same as the one Rowley spoke of, as he (Rowley) never shared this information with the police or Government.

"It is impossible to disprove a negative. If we get a copy of it (report), we will be more than happy to pass it to the relevant agencies where it is supposed to have emanated from and ask them whether or not it's authentic. But without it, we can't ascertain the veracity," said Ramlogan.

Asked whether the information that was reported with respect to the report Rowley disclosed was familiar to him, he said: "Absolutely not. I am a member of the National Security Council. No such report was ever disclosed to the National Security Council.

"An evaluation was done and it was presented to the honourable Prime Minister and the National Security Council. We went along with the advice in that report and the recommendations that were made by the law enforcement security agencies."

Asked if he felt Rowley downplayed the entire assassination plot by making the report public, Ramlogan said, "I think the Opposition Leader is once again demonstrating that politics trumps national and public interests. The PM took him into her confidence and asked the police to share sensitive security information with him.

"We were in Opposition for such a long time. There was never any such gesture on the part of the former administration and having done that the lack of reciprocity if he had something that was relevant, without bothering to share it with the PM. To do the statesmanlike thing obviously escaped him and that's why he can't be viewed as a leader-in-waiting for this country, ever," said Ramlogan.