|
DETERMINED: The Gurkhas, a crack unit of the police force, have been a key part of the search for JI fugitive Mas Selamat. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng addressed about 120 Gurkhas when he visited their camp in Mount Vernon yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
|
THE hunt for escaped terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari in Singapore's forested areas is expected to go on for another week or so.
After that, the search will enter a new phase of more targeted, focused searches based on specific intelligence and leads.
The deployment of largescale ground forces will be scaled down, though they will be ready to act immediately if needed.
Giving this update yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said the authorities remain convinced that the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader, on the run for a month, is still in Singapore.
'The best available information from our own sources and from our foreign security and intelligence partners suggests that Mas Selamat is still in hiding in Singapore,' he said.
'These partners are the same entities which helped us arrest him when he was hiding abroad in 2003.'
What this means is that the pressure must be kept up to search for Mas Selamat and the tight border security cordon maintained to keep him from fleeing the country.
Mr Wong, who is Home Affairs Minister, also said that other operations - intelligence work, border surveillance and sea patrols - would continue.
He spoke to reporters when he visited the Gurkha Contingent's camp in Mount Vernon and addressed about 120 Gurkhas at their parade square.
The contingent is a crack police unit staffed by men recruited from Nepal. Famed for their bravery, loyalty and discipline, Gurkhas are assigned to escort duties and to guard key installations here, including the Whitley Road Detention Centre from which Mas Selamat escaped.
Mr Wong said the search for the terrorist would be kept up 'for as long as it takes until he is apprehended'.
The security cordon thrown round the country must stay, although the immigration authorities would find ways to ease the congestion at the checkpoints.
Mr Wong empathised with those caught in the jams and said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority was working to restore traffic flow to as close as it was before Feb 27, the day Mas Selamat escaped.
He also disclosed that the Government may amend laws so the police can detect and stop escapes by sea more effectively.
'If necessary, we will also amend our laws to strengthen policing within Singapore territorial waters to ensure that we more effectively detect and respond to a possible escape by sea,' he said, without elaborating.
Mr Wong said the JI still posed a threat, as indicated by last month's arrest of JI operative Rijal Yadri Jumari, now under detention here.
'Therefore, while we are searching for Mas Selamat, we cannot neglect the other intelligence activities, operations and cooperation that we have with other countries,' he said.
joolin@sph.com.sg
SEE SINGAPORE
|
