AP - 48 minutes ago
SINGAPORE - Interpol said it has issued a worldwide security
alert following the escape of an alleged Islamic terror leader from
a jail in Singapore.
The international police organization said Friday it put out an
"Orange Notice" for Mas Selamat Kastari, a suspected commander of
the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah's Singapore arm.
Mas Selamat, 47, who is accused of once plotting to hijack a
plane and crash it into Singapore's international airport, escaped
from a detention center Wednesday.
The Interpol notice was issued to the group's 186 national
member bureaus following a request by Singapore, the agency
said.
"When it comes to escapes, the first hours are crucial,"
Interpol's executive director of police services, Jean-Michel
Louboutin, told The Associated Press. "The state of Singapore has
put into operation everything that's needed to be done. It's a
small country, so it's easy to cross and leave."
Louboutin said authorities have "no trail for the moment." Mas
Selamat is "someone who presents a potential physical danger to
others, but also a potential danger by organizing future bombings,"
he said.
The government said Mas Selamat escaped because of a "security
lapse" at the detention center. He had been taken from his cell to
a room where he was waiting for his family to make a scheduled
visit. He escaped after being granted permission to visit the
washroom, authorities said.
Singaporean authorities have launched a nationwide manhunt for
the man they say walks with a limp. Police and military personnel
set up a blockade around the detention center, while security was
tightened at land, air and sea entry ports.
Security breaches are virtually unheard of in Singapore. Among
its security services' biggest successes were pre-empting alleged
plots to bomb the U.S. Embassy, the American Club and government
buildings in 2001 _ schemes in which Mas Selamat allegedly had a
hand.
