Three men believed to have met Mas Selamat (left) to revive the regional Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network have now joined him in detention. -- PHOTO: MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
KUALA LUMPUR - THREE men who were believed to have met Mas Selamat Kastari to revive the regional Islamic network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) have now joined him in detention.
The three men, aged between 43 and 53, were arrested on June 25 in Ulu Tiram and Masai in Johor, according to The Star newspaper. They are now being detained under Malaysia's Internal Security Act.
Mas Selamat, the head of the JI network's Singapore cell, was recaptured in Johor on April 1 after being on the run for more than a year following his escape from a detention facility in the Republic.
In a statement in Parliament on the day of the latest arrests, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein reiterated that Mas Selamat was being detained in Malaysia because he posed a threat not only to the country but also to Indonesia and Singapore.
The minister also said his detention would ensure that his activities and contacts with other militant groups in the region could be contained.
Police chief Musa Hassan confirmed the arrests of the three men but declined to give further information, including on whether they were linked to Mas Selamat.
He told The Straits Times that all three were being held under the ISA which allows for detention without trial. Mas Selamat is also being held under the ISA in Malaysia for two years. 'It's under investigation, I can't say anymore,' the Inspector-General of Police said.
It is understood that investigators are trying to determine the kind of contact the three had with Mas Selamat before he was recaptured. Investigators believe that there was a serious possibility that they were trying to revive JI, which is reeling from the successive arrests of several of its members over the past few years.
The Abolish ISA Movement, a non- governmental organisation, identified those detained as Sulaiman Bukhari, Latif Omar, and a third man who was known only as Samsudin. Sources said all three were Malaysians.
According to The Star, the three were believed to be ordinary members of JI, and had been under surveillance. Police were looking to see if they were recruiting more members to revive the network.
Please read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times
