Mas Selamat Kastari (center), who was arrested in Skudai, Johor last month, is being held for two years under the Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA). --ST PHOTO: ABDUL AZIZ HUSSIN
KUALA LUMPUR - A SINGAPOREAN Islamic terror suspect recaptured in Malaysia last month will not be extradited to the city state for at least two years, Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Wednesday.
Mas Selamat Kastari, who was arrested in Skudai, a small town in Johor on April 1, is being held under the Internal Security Act for two years 'because we need to know more information,' Mr Najib told reporters.
The Internal Security Act allows detention without trial for varying periods determined by the government. The detention periods can be extended indefinitely.
Mr Najib called Mas Selamat, the Singapore commander of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah group, a 'threat to national security'.
Asked if Malaysia had informed Singapore that it won't be handing over Mas Selamat, Mr Najib said authorities in the two countries were in touch.
Mas Selamat was detained under Singapore's Internal Security Law, which is virtually identical to Malaysia's, when he escaped from a high-security prison on Feb 27 last year by wriggling out of a toilet window. He evaded a massive manhunt and slipped into Malaysia by swimming across the narrow Johor Strait that separates the two countries.
He lived undetected in a Malaysian village of about 100 people, rarely going out or mixing with other residents. He was recaptured by Malaysian commandos with the help of Singaporean and Indonesian intelligence agencies.
Malaysia's national news agency Bernama quoted unidentified sources as saying that authorities would discuss the handing over Mas Selamat to the Singaporean authorities toward the end of his two-year detention period.
While in detention, Mas Selamat will undergo a rehabilitation programme that includes debating with religious experts on Islam, Bernama quoted the sources as saying. There is no extradition treaty between the two countries.
Mas Selamat, a Singaporean citizen of Indonesian origin, is the mastermind behind a plot to hijack a plane and fly it into Singapore Changi international airport. He was caught by the Indonesian police in 2006 and handed over to Singapore. -- AP
