Article

2006-02-06 Southeast Asia

Singapores most wanted Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror suspect, Mas Selamat Kastari, has been arrested by Indonesian authorities. Indonesian anti-terror squad members nabbed Mas Selamat, 45, in Java last week. He had gone there to visit his son who was said to be studying at a religious school there. Mas Selamat allegedly changed his identity, assuming the name of Edy Heriyanto and obtained an Indonesian passport.

There's his problem. If only he'd had a Pakistani passport, everyone knows those are the best.

Sources familiar with the arrest said that Mas Selamat, who in 2003 was jailed 18 months for immigration offences, was arrested to assist police in their probe into several bombings there in late 2001 and 2002. They said Singapore had requested for his extradition as the island republic's intelligence division had information that he had planned to bomb the Changi International Airport in 2002.

If successful, Malaysian intelligence authorities may also question Mat Selamat.

Oh, the array of tools ...

It is learnt that the Malaysian officers want to know what he got up to in his alleged frequent visits to Johor before fleeing to Thailand and finally to Indonesia. It is not immediately known whether Indonesian authorities have acceded to Singapores request to have Mas Selamat extradited.

ADDITIONAL: Singapore, 6 Feb. (AKI) - Indonesian police have arrested and returned to Singapore's authorities top terrorism suspect, Mas Selamat Kastari, who is the country's alleged leader of the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network. A Singapore interior spokesman said on Monday that Mas Selamat - who served an 18-month prison sentence in Indonesia on immigration charges in 2003 - was sent back to Singapore on 3 February. He was arrested on 20 January with a fake identity card, according to Indonesian police.

Indonesia and Singapore have no formal extradition treaty, and Mas Selamat's arrest and deportation to Singapore is seen as a significant step forward in anti-terror cooperation between intelligence services in the region.

Singapore's intelligence obtained information that Mas Selamat tried to bomb Singapore's Changi airport in 2002, and with al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) mastermind Hambali, hatched a plan to hijack a plane and crash it into the airport, which failed to materialise. He fled Singapore in December, following a security operation launched against JI, after the authorities discovered the JI network and its plans to crash seven truck bombs at various locations around the island five years ago, Channel NewsAsia reported.

JI is believed to have masterminded the bomb attacks on Bali's tourist areas of Kuta and Jimbaran on Bali last October which killed 22 people, as well the massive nightclub bombing in 2002 which killed 202 people, the 2003 attack on the Marriot hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people, and another at the Australian embassy in 2004 which killed 11. The group's aim is to create an Islamic caliphate in southeast Asia.

Posted by Dan Darling 2006-02-06 02:27|| || Front Page|| [11150 views since 2007-05-07] Top

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