S'porean militant escapes to Indonesia

Mon, 08 Apr 2002 | Source: AP

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean member of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group who authorities say planned to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's international airport had fled to Indonesia, a report said on Sunday.

The suspect, identified as Mas Selamat Kastari, escaped Singapore in December and then traveled through Malaysia, southern Thailand and then onto Medan in Indonesia, Singapore's Sunday Times newspaper reported quoting an unnamed home affairs ministry spokesman.

The suspect and four other men who escaped from Singapore belong to Jemaah Islamiyah, a group implicated in an alleged plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy and other Western targets in Singapore, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told Parliament on Friday.

He said Kastari was believed to have fled to Thailand in January.

It is not known where the suspects are now, it said. --AP

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