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KEY ARREST: Mohamed Hassan was captured 10 days ago.
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PRECISE information provided by Singapore led to the arrest of bomb-maker Mohamed Hassan in Indonesia recently, sources said.
The 'decisive intelligence pinpointed Mohamed Hassan's exact location' on Sumatra and led to his arrest 10 days ago in Sekayu, near Palembang, they said.
Leads arising from his interrogation enabled Indonesian police to arrest nine Indonesians, and seize more than 20 bombs and 50kg of explosives in raids over the next four days.
Terrorism expert John Harrison of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) noted: 'Intelligence gathered in one country can have massive impact elsewhere. Both Singapore and Indonesia deserve credit.'
Mohamed Hassan, 35, has a brother in custody at the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC) for terrorist activity.
Dr Rohan Gunaratna, another terrorism expert at RSIS and author of Inside Al-Qaeda, said Mohamed Hassan was second in command in a five-men terrorist cell led by Mas Selamat Kastari.
The five, all Singaporeans, evaded the Internal Security Department (ISD) dragnet that caught 15 people in Dec 2001.
The group escaped to Thailand, where Mas Selamat planned to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport in early 2002. He wanted to retaliate against the Jemaah Islamiah arrests and also to pressure the United States to stop its attacks on Afghanistan.
Of the five who fled, three are today in custody - Mohamed Hassan in Indonesia, Ishak Mohamed Noohu and Mohamed Rashid Zainal Abidin, both in their late forties, in Singapore.
Information provided by Singapore led to their capture in a neighbouring country in 2004 and 2006 respectively, said sources. Both were later deported back to Singapore, separately, in 2006.
The remaining two at large are Husaini Ismail and Mas Selamat.
The latter was arrested by Indonesian police in Tanjung Pinang in February 2003 based on information from Singapore. He escaped in 2004, but was later recaptured.
He was released from prison prematurely in 2005 and re-arrested in January 2006. He was deported to Singapore the next month, and kept at WRDC till this February when he escaped.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Sunday it will continue to work with all its foreign security partners to arrest other Singaporean JI members still at large.
Describing Singapore as a regional centre for anti-terrorism efforts, Dr Gunaratna said: 'It's fighting terrorism not only for Singapore's interests but also that of other countries.'
Dr Harrison highlighted a different issue: 'The JI group now knows the organisation has been penetrated. It now has its own internal security problems.
'This means it will have to be circumspect in its operations. Should it continue its terror operations, or investigate the leaks? Studies have shown that these groups cannot do both well at the same time.'
kianbeng@sph.com.sg
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