Agence France-Presse - 5/7/2009 8:11 PM GMT

Escaped Singapore militant arrested in Malaysia: report


The fugitive leader of an Islamic militant group in Singapore has been arrested in Malaysia, a state-linked broadcaster reported here early Friday.


Channel NewsAsia said on its website that Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged head of terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in the city-state, had been caught in the neighbouring country after a manhunt lasting more than a year, but gave no details.


Singapore police spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment on the report.


Kastari, now 48, escaped from a high-security detention centre here on February 27 last year.


He had earlier fled Singapore in December 2001 following an Internal Security Department operation against JI. He was arrested in Indonesia in 2006 and handed back to the city-state.


Singapore officials said he was part of a plot to hijack an airliner in Bangkok and crash it into Singapore's Changi airport in 2001 in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.


Jemaah Islamiyah is the alleged Southeast Asian affiliate of Al-Qaeda.


Kastari was being held without formal court charges when he escaped from detention in Singapore.

http://news.sg.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3288712