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THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE'S first online story on the escape, published on Friday. PHOTO: IHT
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FROM Angola to the United States, newspapers around the world have reported on the escape of and search for Singapore's most wanted man.
Three days after Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader Mas Selamat Kastari disappeared from the Whitley Road Detention Centre, major newspapers around the world were still filing reports on the incident.
Malaysia and Indonesia broke the news on Thursday, a day after his escape.
The Star, Malaysia's leading English tabloid, reported that the Malaysian police were on the alert and had stepped up checkpoint patrols. Pictures of the fugitive were also distributed to various enforcement agencies.
Some reports were speculative. Yesterday, The Star said that Mas Selamat was believed to have fled to Indonesia via a 45-minute speedboat ride.
The Jakarta Post, an influential English-language Indonesian paper, reported that checks had been tightened at the immigration and Customs points in Batam island, amid speculation that it would be his entry point into the country.
It also reported Batam's police chief as saying that the short distance to Singapore and the fugitive's knowledge of the island would make it easier for him to slip in illegally.
In countries farther away, first reports kept to the facts.
Their antennae were raised, however, when Interpol issued a worldwide alert on Mas Selamat on Friday, stating that he posed a threat to the security of citizens worldwide.
More foreign newspapers have begun running reports on the terrorist's escape.
USA Today, The China Post, The Bangkok Post and The Guardian zoomed in on the Singapore Government's apology in Parliament for the security lapse which led to the escape.
They described Singapore as a small and densely populated law-and-order city state where 'security breaches are virtually unheard of'.
In Africa, the Angola Press painted a scene of emergency here, with hundreds of police officers and military personnel fanning out to conduct searches.
Many newspapers, including the Khaleej Times, Dubai's English daily, also described Singapore as a 'staunch US ally' in the global war on terror.
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