Here is the Malaysian version of Singapore's PM press statement
concerning the delay in publicly releasing the news.
The reason for going public was due to the Malaysian Straits
Times call to Singapore ISD for confirmation that MAS has been
arrested by the Malaysian authorities.
It seems that the Malaysian Straits Times had the resources to
sniff out the news before the Singapore Straits Times, but could
not get any confirmation from the Malaysian Authorities.
Now Singapore's PM had said that the Singapore Government had no
choice since the newspaper had a news scoop on this MAS affair and
was waiting to go public.
Questions need to be asked is -
Had the silence continued by both the Malaysian and Singapore
Authorities, could this news have been delayed further ?
Was the Malaysian side consulted before the news was released
publicly on both sides of the Causeway ?
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s top leaders already knew that its most
wanted fugitive, Mas Selamat Kastari, had been captured by
Malaysian authorities but had to keep mum about it on Malaysia’s
request.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said his deputy Wong Kan Seng had
told him that the Malaysian authorities had arrested the suspected
Jemaah Islamiah militant group’s leader, but the news could not be
made public as it would jeopardise follow-up operations.
“Kan Seng told me that the Malaysians had asked us to keep this
quiet for the time being,” Lee said in a statement yesterday,
adding that he then told his deputy that Singapore had to respect
Malaysia’s request although he knew that Singaporeans would be
anxious to know the news.
It is believed the statement was issued after some Singaporeans
voiced their dismay over the news blackout on Mas Selamat’s arrest
by the local authorities that only officially confirmed it after
Singapore’s The Straits Times leaked the news yesterday.
Malaysian authorities, which also confirmed the arrest yesterday,
said Mas Selamat was captured by Special Branch early last month in
Skudai, Johor, and was being detained under the Internal Security
Act.
Mas Selamat, 48, who was said to be plotting several bomb attacks
here had been on the run after he escaped from the maximum security
Whitley Road detention centre on Feb 27. It led to the first ever
massive hunt by the city state authorities.
Lee said he came to know about the leak in the press on Thursday
afternoon when Kan Seng, who is also the Home Minister, received a
phone call from The Straits Times while the rest of the Cabinet
ministers were having lunch prior to their weekly meeting.
His deputy said The Straits Times had called to ask the Internal
Security Department (ISD) to confirm the newspaper’s scoop, which
came from its Kuala Lumpur correspondent, that the Malaysian
authorities had arrested Mas Selamat.
“As the story had leaked, we had no choice but to confirm it,” said
Lee. “It was only then that Kan Seng told the ministers that Mas
Selamat had been arrested. They were taken completely by
surprise.”
The Prime Minister also said that when he had a four-eyed lunch
with his Malaysian counterpart Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in
Pattaya on April 11, after the Asean meeting was called off, Najib
told him that the Malaysian authorities had arrested Mas Selamat. —
Bernama
