Wasn't he born a Singaporean?
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — Jemaah Islamiah’s Singapore leader Mas
Selamat Kastari, who was captured in Malaysia last year after
escaping a Singapore jail, has been handed back to Singaporean
authorities, an official said today.
“We can say that Mas Selamat has been handed over to Singapore
authorities,” said Jamilah Taib, a home ministry spokesman.
“We don’t know when the handover took place and will release
details as we have them,” she added.
It was reported earlier that Mas Selamat had been freed from the
Kamunting detention camp and would be handed over to the
Immigration Department for deportation to the island republic
today.
Mas Selamat escaped from Singapore’s Whitley Road detention
centre on February 27, 2008 and was captured by Malaysian police in
Kampung Tawakal near Skudai, Johor on April 1, 2009.
He was then detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for
two years.
In a statement on Friday, Police Special Task Force Director
(Operations/Counter Terrorism) Datuk Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the
home minister had cancelled the detention order against Mas
Selamat. The order was cancelled at 10.30am the same day.
It is not known if Mas Selamat’s sudden release and deportation
was discussed at Monday’s meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Razak and his Singapore counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong.
Malaysian authorities, with intelligence from Singapore, had
tracked him down last year to Kampung Tawakal in Skudai, Johor.
He had been living in the village of about 100 people for almost
half a year before police ambushed him in a dawn raid last
April.
A Singapore Internal Security Department assessment is that “he
remains defiant”.
Mas Selamat was understood to have been undergoing a
rehabilitation programme that includes debating with religious
experts on Islam.
Mas Selamat was born
January 23, 1961 in Kendal, Central Java, Indonesia. He is linked
with JI and is a suspect for a plot to bomb the Singapore Changi
Airport in 2002.
Previously, Mas Selamat was detained by the Indonesian police in
February 2003 to aid their investigation of several bombings in
2001 and 2002. He was then using the identity of Edi Heriyanto with
fake passport, and was subsequently jailed for 18 months in 2003
for immigration offences. It was during this time he acquired his
permanent limp, as result of a botched escape attempt from a high
floor.
His claim of infamy started with an escape from Whitley Road
Detention Centre of Singapore’s Internal Security Department on
February 27, 2008. He was deported to Singapore after an arrest was
made in Java, Indonesia on January 20, 2006 for using fake identity
card while visiting his son there. It then spurred what is
considered the biggest manhunt ever in Singapore — involving
several units including the Singapore Police Force, Gurkha
Contingent, Police Tactical Unit, Singapore Guards and Armed Forces
Military Police Command.
The manhunt was called off 17 hours later without success, and
it wasn’t until April 1, 2009 that Mas Selamat was arrested by
Malaysian forces. His arrest was undisclosed under the Internal
Security Act (ISA) in order to root out his network in Malaysia,
and was only reported by Singaporean media on May 8, 2009.
JI’s activities are centred around the establishment of an
Islamic State in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the
southern Philippines, Singapore and Brunei. It was founded on
January 1, 1993 by Indonesian leaders Abu Bakar Bashir and Abdullah
Sungkar in Malaysia, while escaping the Suharto Government’s
persecution. Since then, JI has initiated contact with al-Qaeda,
Taliban, the Abu Sayyaf Group and Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) among others.
The militant organisation has been involved in dozens of attacks
and bombings, the deadliest being the Bali car bombings on October
12, 2002. Its suicide bombers killed 202 people and injured 240
more in two attacks in the tourist district of Kuta. Several
members of JI were arrested afterwards, and Imam Samudra, Amrozi
Nurhasyim and Mukhlas Ghufron were executed by firing squad on 9
November 2008.
Other attacks suspected or claimed to be carried out by JI
include the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing in Kuningan, Jakarta,
the 2004 Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta, the 2005 Bali
terrorist bombing and the 2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel
bombings. Many other JI important figures such as Noordin Top,
Azahari Husin, Hambali, Abu Dujana, and Dulmatin, have since been
killed or captured, mostly by Indonesian anti-terrorist squad.
