Singapore's most-wanted militant arrested after escape

SINGAPORE, May 8 (Reuters) - The suspected leader of a radical Islamist group linked to the 2002 Bali bombings has been arrested 15 months after he escaped from a high security prison in Singapore, the government said on Friday.

Mas Selamat Kastari, was the alleged mastermind of a plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport. Singapore authorities have also accused him of planning several truck bomb attacks across the island state.

A Singapore government spokeswoman confirmed the arrest but gave no other details on where or when.

Officials said Mas Selamat was a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a pan-Asian radical Islamic group linked to al-Qaeda responsible for several bomb attacks across Southeast Asia, including the Bali bombings.

His escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in February 2008 prompted a manhunt in Singapore and led to the sacking of several Singapore officials.

An AFP report stated that the Mas Selamat Kastari, now 48, had been arrested in Malaysia.

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

According to Singapore officials, 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.

(taken from asiaone.com)