Friday, May 8, 2009

Mas Selamat's Arrest a blow to JI

May 8, 2009
Capture of Mas Selamat
Arrest a blow to JI
'He is an extremely skilled and dangerous terrorist and the fact that he has been recaptured improves the security situation in Singapore and the region.' -- ST
SECURITY experts applauded the arrest of Singapore's most wanted terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari in Malaysia, saying it is a 'very significant blow' to the militant Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror network.

The fugitive militant was captured on April 1 while hiding in Johor, after more than a year after he bolted from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27 last year.

Sources told The Straits Times that the 48-year-old was tracked down based on intelligence provided by Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD), and a joint operation by Malaysia and Singapore's security agencies.

The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed the arrest in a statement on Friday morning, but gave no other details.

Dr John Harrison, a security analyst at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), commenting on the Mas Selamat's arrest, told AFP: 'He is an extremely skilled and dangerous terrorist and the fact that he has been recaptured improves the security situation in Singapore and the region.'

Dr Harrison, manager of research at NTU's International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, said whatever morale boost the JI gained from the escape has now been erased.

'Secondly, what it does show is that there is a tremendous regional cooperation against JI and that as long as that continues the JI will not be able to successfully re-establish itself as the organisation that it once was.'

Dr Harrison praised Singapore and Malaysian authorities for their cooperation and said they had kept the news under wraps to get more intelligence away from the media glare.

Ms Sidney Jones, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, applauded the arrest, but said it was not an ending. 'In some ways the bigger danger will still come from the people at large,' she told AFP from Jakarta.

Dr Rohan Gunaratna, a security analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, described Kastari's arrest as a 'very significant blow to the JI network because JI is trying to revive.'

'Mas Selamat is a key icon of the Jemaah Islamiah organisation, he is one of the most dangerous terrorists in this region, his arrest is a major setback to the JI organisation,' he said. -- AFP


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