Suspicions over Singapore jailbreak
By Alex Au
SINGAPORE - Renowned for its strict and tight government
controls, Singapore's Orwellian reputation took a hit on February
27 when terror suspect Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the island
state's Whitley Road Detention Center.
The escape, and the government's subsequent handling of the
manhunt, have called the island nation's terror-fighting
credentials into question. Mas Selamat is the alleged leader of the
Singapore cell of the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah
(JI), which is believed to have links with al-Qaeda.
According to government sources, Mas Selamat had in early 2002
planned for a commercial plane from Bangkok to be hijacked and
crashed into Singapore's Changi Airport, in apparent imitation of
the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Prior to
that,
in 2001, Mas Selamat and his JI associates had also allegedly
planned to plant bombs at a train station, the US Embassy, the
American Club and other targets, as well as poison Singapore's
water system.
The main target of the US's "war on terror" in Southeast Asia, JI
is believed to operate across at least three countries in the
region - Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The radical group
stands accused of orchestrating a number of terror attacks,
including the 2002 Bali blast in Indonesia which killed 202
people.
The group is also believed to have links and share training
facilities with Islamist rebels active in the southern Philippines,
including the allegedly al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf. While many JI
operatives have in recent years been apprehended by their
respective governments, no country, including the United States,
has declared victory over the underground network.
Mas Selamat was a particularly high-value detainee. His involvement
in Islamic militant activities dates to 1990, when he first joined
the Darul Islam, an Indonesia-based radical movement considered by
many as the forerunner of JI.
According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), by 1992 Mas
Selamat was a member of the religious council of JI's Singapore
cell. He traveled to Afghanistan for military training in 1993, and
again in 1998, to observe the Taliban's austere and strict
fundamentalist rule, of which the ICG reports he was "deeply
impressed".
Around 1999, Mas Selamat was reportedly promoted to Singapore
commander by the group's Southeast Asian operations chief Riduan
Isamuddin, or Hambali, who was captured in Thailand in August 2003
and is now in US custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
A full week after Mas Selamat's dramatic escape, details are still
sketchy as the government has reverted to damage-control mode. The
authorities have remained tight-lipped about the embarrassing
security breach. Their silence has allowed all manner of conspiracy
theories to flourish over the Internet.
What is known is that Mas Selamat was being taken by guards for a
scheduled visit with his family when at 4:05 pm he requested to use
the toilet. That apparently was the last time he was seen by his
prison minders. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs
Wong Kan Seng told the media four days later there had been a
"physical breach" at the facility, but refused to elaborate. "An
independent investigation is underway and we should not speculate
on what and how it happened," he said.
Schizophrenic
manhunt
Thousands of police have flooded the area in
the vicinity of his escape, setting up roadblocks and conducting
house-to-house searches. It wasn't until after 8 pm the day of the
escape that the government announced that the leading terror
suspect was on the loose. The four-hour lag between the escape and
the public announcement has stoked speculation of a government
cover-up.
Every day and night since, police, army personnel and tracker dogs
have combed forested areas for the fugitive - to no avail. The
authorities have stated their belief, without pointing to specific
corroborating evidence, that the suspect is still on the island and
has not fled to a neighboring country, such as Muslim-majority
Malaysia or Indonesia.
Urban areas are now covered with police posters showing the face of
the wanted man. Authorities have alerted the population that Mas
Selamat walks with a limp and police have released information
about his height and weight. It was only on the sixth day that the
media were told what clothes Mas Selamat was wearing at the time of
his escape.
The government's schizophrenic impulse, simultaneously calling on
the public to help, but not trusting people with specific
information about the suspect, is characteristic of the Singapore
government's nanny-state ways. Mas Selamat's escape is particularly
embarrassing not only because the Singapore citizen had eluded
capture before, but it was the Indonesians who had originally
caught him and handed him over.
Thirteen suspected members of JI's Singapore wing were hauled off
to indefinite detention without trial under the Internal Security
Act over their alleged roles in plotting the 2001 attacks. Mas
Selamat, however, managed to slip through the dragnet and fled to
Indonesia, where the terror group has deeper roots and is suspected
to maintain a wide sanctuary network.
Indonesian police arrested him in 2003 on Bintan, an island near
Singapore, when they discovered he was carrying fake immigration
papers. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on immigration
charges, during which he attempted to escape by jumping off a high
floor of the detention facility. He broke his leg in the failed
attempt, and the injury apparently developed into a permanent
limp.
Where Mas Selamat went after serving that sentence is unclear.
However, he was arrested for a second time on immigration offences
in Malang, Java, in 2006. He was deported to Singapore in February
that same year and was held under the Internal Security Act, which
allows for indefinite detention without trial if the state has
cause to believe a suspect is a threat to the state. Mas Selamat
was held at the Whitley Road Detention Center until his
escape.
Singapore prides itself as a trusted and reliable partner to the US
in matters of regional security. The US Navy regularly makes port
calls and it is believed the two sides have been sharing
counterterrorism-related information. It is because of that special
relationship, apparently, that JI chose to scout out American
targets for attacks in Singapore in 2001.
Mas Selamat's escape calls into question the reliability of
Singapore's own security arrangements, as well as how much Western
allies can and should depend on them. There have been similar
breaches in the Philippines, where high-value terror suspects have
escaped, allegedly through police corruption. Unless Mas Selamat is
caught and a full accounting of the lapses that led to his escape
are publicly disclosed, foreign confidence in Singapore's
counterterrorism credentials will be hard to restore.
Noises have already been made from Indonesia that if their police
again capture Mas Selamat in their country, they will keep him in
their own custody rather than deport him to Singapore. The US, too,
could be prodded to reconsider its security cooperation with
Singapore if and when the details of the mysterious escape finally
emerge.
Alex
Au is an independent social and political commentator,
freelance writer and blogger based in Singapore. He often speaks at
public forums on politics, culture and gay
issues.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JC08Ae02.html
Alex Au
http://www.yawningbread.org