Indonesia's anti-terror police have detained two Singaporeans linked to the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group and possibly involved in a plot to attack Changi airport, a police source and media reports said on Thursday.
- One Singaporean was arrested in Lampung province in Sumatra and another in Central Java province on Sunday, the state Antara news agency reported.
- A senior police source who declined to be identified confirmed to Reuters the arrest of two Singaporeans among a number of other recent arrests but declined to elaborate.
- The Koran Tempo newspaper quoted a police source as saying a series of arrests had netted three were suspects, including the two Singaporeans.
- "They are suspected Singaporean fugitives, linked to the group of Mas Slamet Kastari," the paper quoted the source as saying.
- Kastari, who is suspected to be the leader of the Singapore arm of JI shot to fame when he escaped from a prison in the city state last year. He was recaptured in Malaysia in April.
- Kastari is the alleged mastermind of a plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport and was also accused of planning truck bomb attacks at several sites on the island.
- One of the Singaporeans, who police suspect was an expert at faking docments, had been working as a pedicab driver in Lampung, according to the Antara news agency.
- JI carried out a series of deadly attacks in Indonesia in recent years, including the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, which killed 202 people, including Indonesians and foreign tourists.
- Indonesian security forces have since detained hundreds of militants and killed a number during shoot outs including JI bomb expert Azahari bin Husin.
- A number of key suspects remain at large including Malaysian national Noordin Top, accused of masterminding a series of bombings in Indonesia.
Source: Reuters, art.jakarta1
Post a Comment