Page last updated at 09:57 GMT, Friday, 27 February 2009

Singapore suspect still at large

Posters of Mas Selamat Kastari, Singapore, 03/08
Posters were put up all around Singapore following Mas Selamat Kastari's escape

A year after a suspected Islamist militant leader escaped from jail in Singapore, the authorities there have renewed their promise to catch him.

A worldwide manhunt was sparked after Mas Selamat Kastari fled from custody through a bathroom window.

But Singaporean officials admit they still cannot find him, and analysts believe he will be hiding in a country such as the Philippines or Indonesia.

He was said to be leader of militant group Jemaah Islamiah's Singapore cell.


"The search for Mas Selamat Kastari is still ongoing and it will not stop until he is apprehended, whether in Singapore or overseas," a spokesman for the ministry of home affairs told AFP news agency.

Kastari was first arrested and imprisoned for immigration offences in Indonesia in 2003, after reportedly going on the run from the Singaporean authorities.

He was extradited to Singapore three years later where he was detained under the city-state's Internal Security Act - a law which permits indefinite imprisonment without trial.

His escape caused huge embarrassment to Singapore's government.

According to widely-reported accounts, Mas Selamat Kastari managed to squeeze through the toilet window at his detention centre and climb over a fence while guards waited outside the bathroom.


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