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MANAMA (BAHRAIN) - THE escape of Mas Selamat Kastari is a 'very severe lesson in complacency' and it shows that Singapore is not infallible, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday.
However, if the former Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader is still in Singapore, Mr Lee believed that he would not be able to launch an attack.
But if he has escaped to Indonesia, he would be able to link up with his old networks and Mr Lee warned Singapore that it must brace itself for a 'return hit sometime'.
Asked by Singapore reporters here for the impact of the escape on the country's international reputation, Mr Lee replied that it was 'not very good' for its security services.
'We should have known that here is a man who has had several escapes,' he said at his wrap-up media interview here after a week-long visit to three Gulf nations.
'But obviously, he is a very wily sort of person and must have won the confidence of whoever were his custodians.
'So when he said he wanted to go to the toilet, they allowed him to go to the toilet. Whether the toilet had bars and there was no exit from the windows, that has to be explained.
'I give him full marks for having won the confidence of his custodians - that he's completely docile, completely passive and he's going to remain in captivity.'
Mas Selamat, 47, who had previously planned to crash a plane into Changi Airport, escaped from Internal Security Department (ISD) custody at the Whitley Detention Centre on Feb 27.
He has been on the run since, with his escape having sparked the biggest manhunt in Singapore's history.
Mr Lee said that the escape showed that Singapore is not infallible.
'It shows that it is a fallacy, it is stupid to believe we are infallible. We are not infallible. One mistake and we've got a big explosive in our midst. So let's not take this lightly,' he said.
He called it a 'very severe lesson of complacency' - the authorities had been confident that they had their prisoner 'sized up', but he had sized up his custodians in turn.
'But he had the custodian sized up, he had the custodian feeling comfortable that he can go to the toilet where there are no bars in the windows, and he got through. Very smart fellow. So we are dealing with a smart man.'
Mr Lee said that he was 'not so worried', as long as the fugitive had not made arrangements prior to his escape and was still in Singapore.
'He can't assemble an explosive in Singapore on his own, he can't get a team in Singapore, a JI team, to mount an attack. So we just keep the pressure on, make sure he doesn't get out of Singapore,' he added.
'If he's already got out of Singapore, we won't know. Police believe he hasn't got accomplices. It was not a prepared escape. Then he's hiding somewhere, either in the jungle eating berries or whatever, or somebody is giving him refuge.
'Keep him in Singapore and he can do not much harm because he needs explosives, needs to get a plan, mount it, get people to execute the plan and that is easier done in Indonesia than in Singapore.'
When Mas Selamat escaped a government dragnet in December 2001, 'he escaped into Malaysia then he went into Indonesia because Malaysia has got smaller land area and tighter controls', said Mr Lee.
'So if he can get into Indonesia, he has his old networks, then we have to watch out for a return hit sometime.'
While it is good for citizens to stay vigilant, Mr Lee believed that the key is to deduce what are Mas Selamat's options.
'Is he on his own, hiding in a culvert in the jungle? How does he get food? Or has he taken refuge with a friend's friend? Not the usual friends because he would know that all his friends would be covered,' he said.
'So he would have to get his friend to give him another friend who is not under surveillance, who nobody knows about, that ISD does not know about, and gives him cover.
'So we have to find out. It's a game of tracing the possibilities. I'm not a security expert, I'm not a detective...but we do have people who understand what we ought to be following. But we ought to keep the pressure up.'
shpeh@sph.com.sg
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