Mas Selamat: ISD provides crucial lead

May 8, 2009

Capture of Mas Selamat

ISD provides crucial lead

		Mas Selamat's escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27 last year sparked a massive manhunt in Singapore and the region. -- PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER

DEPUTY Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng commended the Internal Security Department (ISD) officers for going all out to track down the escaped terror leader Mas Selamat, who was eventually caught in Malaysia on April 1.

Mr Wong also said the capture of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiah network leader was the result oft the strong co-operation between security agencies on both sides. Intelligence leads provided by Singapore's ISD late last year played a key role leading to the arrest.

VIDEO Significance of arrest: Terror trends in the region (1:18)

Briefing the media on Friday morning on the capture of Mas Selamat, whose escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27 last year sparked a massive manhunt in Singapore and the region, and involved the Interpol, Mr Wong said details of the arrest are brief at the moment as the Malaysian authorities are still questioning him.

Bernama on Friday reported that Singapore's most wanted man was arrested by Malaysian Special Branch officers near Skudai, about 25km from Johor Baru.

'We know that he has relatives staying in Skudai,' said Bernama, quoting a source, who is familiar with the operation to nab the JI leader, who masterminded a plot to hijack a jetliner and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport.

Mas Selamat first fled Singapore in 2001 but was captured by the Indonesian police on Bintan Island in 2006 and detained at the maximum security Whitley Road detention centre.

Asked for his reaction on the capture, Mr Wong said at the media briefing: 'I am glad that he is now arrested. We were informed of the arrest soon after the arrest by the Malaysians on April 1. I also reported that to the Prime Minister. As I have said before, so long as we can find some leads on him sometime or other, we will find him.'

He said despite the setback last year, which was 'a painful lesson' for ISD officers, they continued to work very hard and did not give up.

'They continued to work their leads and they looked at every lead possible that it provided, and for this particular one, they developed this lead on their own and eventually, they shared that lead which they think is the most credible one with the Malaysians.

'The Malaysians worked hard on that and eventually found where Mas Selamat was and arrested him.

'On this, I must say that the excellent work done by the Malaysian Special Branch is really highly commendable. Between ISD and MSB, there's a long standing cooperative, cordial relationship and as a result of this kind of relationship, we were able to keep each of our countries safe, and contribute to the safety and security of the region.'

Confirming the arrest of Mas Selamat, Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday morning that he could not go into the detail because 'this is a sensitive issue which involves three parties namely Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.'

'It also involves intelligence agencies of the three governments and it is something that I do not want to jeopardise,' he said, assuring that the Malaysian authorities would ensure that Mas Selamat would not escape for a second time

Bernama said Mas Selamat is still in police custody and had not been sent to the

Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak where Malaysian ISA detainees are held.

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