World

Singapore 'terror leader' captured

by Barbara McPherson | May 8, 2009 at 08:47 am

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A year long manhunt by Singapore authorities has resulted in the recapture of Mas Selamat, suspected of masterminding terror plots through his association with Jemaah Islamiyah(JI).

The suspected leader of a southeast Asian Islamic group accused of plotting a 9/11-style attack on Singapore's international airport has been recaptured in Malaysia, Singapore officials have confirmed.

The arrest of Mas Selamat Kastari, a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group, comes more than a year after he escaped from a Singapore jail in late February last year.

The head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Singapore's Nanyang Tech. U., Rohan Gunaratna spoke about Mas Selamat and JI.

Mas Selamat, Gunaratna said, was one of the "most dangerous and determined" terrorist whose arrest is a "very significant victory for governments in this region".

"JI still poses a very significant threat. In fact it is the pre-eminent terrorist group that is active in southeast Asia," he said.

JI has been blamed for a string of attacks across southeast Asia, including the Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, many of them foreign tourists.