SINGAPORE (AFP) Thu, 28 Feb - An intense manhunt was under way Thursday for the alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network in Singapore following his escape from custody.
Mas Selamat bin Kastari, who was accused of planning to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport in Singapore, escaped Wednesday from the Whitley Road Detention Centre, the home affairs ministry said.
"We confirm that he has not been captured as yet," a spokeswoman told AFP. The ministry said Kastari walks with a limp and was not known to be armed.
A hundred soldiers joined the manhunt early Thursday, local radio station 938Live reported on its website, adding to hundreds of police who have blockaded the area near a wooded park.
Dozens of paramilitary Nepalese Gurkhas from a special Singapore Police contingent were deployed every few metres along roads surrounding the detention centre, near the upscale Raffles Town Club, late Wednesday.
The government apologised for Kastari's escape from the Whitley Road facility, which holds prisoners detained by the Internal Security Department.
"This should never have happened. I'm sorry that it has," Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told parliament.
Wong said Kastari had been taken from his cell to the family visit room to await his family.
"He asked to go to the toilet, where he escaped," he said.
Despite its compact size and high population density, Singapore has thickly forested nature reserves and water catchment areas that can provide escape routes and hiding places for a fugitive.
Businesses, offices and schools operated normally despite the massive security presence in the area.
The Straits Times reported that border checkpoints had been alerted and plainclothes officers were checking closed-circuit television footage from shops and petrol stations.
The ministry announced in June 2006 that Kastari and four other JI members had been detained under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.
Kastari was arrested by Indonesian authorities in East Java in January that year before being handed over to Singapore. Analysts said he would try to flee to Indonesia.
Authorities have blamed JI for a string of attacks across the region, including the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which killed 202 people.
Singapore, a staunch US ally, says it is a top target for extremists.
Officials have said extremists planned to attack a bus carrying Americans to a subway station in 2001, but authorities foiled that attack by arresting 15 people including members of JI.
Source: Yahoo! NEWS
Damn. The most wanted man of Singapore is on the loose. Of course we Singaporeans have to give a sh*t! What the hell went wrong?! Get him before he leaves Singapore.
What I've learned is, no country is perfect. Problems and challenges will arise for any mankind to face.
.jpg)
