Mas Selamat’s re—arrest not the end of Singapore’s problem
Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, May 10
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said Singapore’s security challenge is to keep up its guard without getting fatigued or complacent.
In his first remarks on the capture of Mas Selamat Kastari, Mr Lee said Singapore must not think that the re—arrest of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader is the end of its problem.
He said the terrorism situation in Southeast Asia is under control, but the threat is far from over. He added that the price of security is eternal vigilance.
In a statement to the media on Saturday, the Prime Minister also said information about the capture of Mas Selamat on 1 April was not made public earlier, because of a prior agreement with the Malaysian authorities.
Mr Lee said he was told about the arrest by his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak on 11 April during an impromptu four—eye lunch in Thailand’s Pattaya after the ASEAN meeting was called off due to demonstrations.
He thanked Datuk Seri Najib for Malaysia’s generous support and help and told him Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Wong Kan Seng had earlier told him of the arrest.
Mr Lee said he was happy and relieved that Mas Selamat had been found and arrested before he could do any harm.
But Malaysia had asked Singapore to keep this information quiet for the time being, so Singapore respected this and held the information very tightly in order not to jeopardise the operation.
But on May 7 afternoon during a weekly pre—Cabinet meeting lunch, Mr Wong received a phone call informing him that the Internal Security Department (ISD) had received a request from the The Straits Times to confirm a scoop that Mas Selamat had been arrested by the Malaysian authorities.
As the news had leaked, the Singapore government had no choice but to confirm the story.
Ministers who were present at the lunch were completely taken by surprise when Mr Wong told them that Mas Selamat had been arrested.
In his statement, Mr Lee also thanked all officers involved in tracking down Mas Selamat over the past year.
He said he never had a doubt that Mas Selamat would be found because he knew the quality and commitment of the ISD officers working on this.
He said the ISD had recovered quickly from the mistakes which led to Mas Selamat’s escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in February last year.
Mr Lee also thanked the ISD and its Malaysian counterpart, the Special Branch, for working closely together.
— CNA/ir
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MSK was a national threat. MSK was on intn'l wanted list. his arrest wasn't supposed to be made known to the world?
MSK arrested on April 1, but had prior agreements (meaning agreement made before April 1)? dragonboy was told of the info via najib on april 11, n told to to be hush puppy? so.... which is which? they already know MSK was arrested before or after April 1??
they say they respect the decision from m'sia to keep hush hush about the info, keep quiet for so long, then when press ask about the truth on May 7, then lppl open the cb mouth to confess?? if wanna keep it secret, then continue to keep it secret, if wanna tell, just tell. use what lame excuse to say news leak, so must say??? what logic?
they think our intelligence is equivalent to that of the intelligent intelligence?
Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, May 10
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said Singapore’s security challenge is to keep up its guard without getting fatigued or complacent.
In his first remarks on the capture of Mas Selamat Kastari, Mr Lee said Singapore must not think that the re—arrest of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader is the end of its problem.
He said the terrorism situation in Southeast Asia is under control, but the threat is far from over. He added that the price of security is eternal vigilance.
In a statement to the media on Saturday, the Prime Minister also said information about the capture of Mas Selamat on 1 April was not made public earlier, because of a prior agreement with the Malaysian authorities.
Mr Lee said he was told about the arrest by his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak on 11 April during an impromptu four—eye lunch in Thailand’s Pattaya after the ASEAN meeting was called off due to demonstrations.
He thanked Datuk Seri Najib for Malaysia’s generous support and help and told him Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Wong Kan Seng had earlier told him of the arrest.
Mr Lee said he was happy and relieved that Mas Selamat had been found and arrested before he could do any harm.
But Malaysia had asked Singapore to keep this information quiet for the time being, so Singapore respected this and held the information very tightly in order not to jeopardise the operation.
But on May 7 afternoon during a weekly pre—Cabinet meeting lunch, Mr Wong received a phone call informing him that the Internal Security Department (ISD) had received a request from the The Straits Times to confirm a scoop that Mas Selamat had been arrested by the Malaysian authorities.
As the news had leaked, the Singapore government had no choice but to confirm the story.
Ministers who were present at the lunch were completely taken by surprise when Mr Wong told them that Mas Selamat had been arrested.
In his statement, Mr Lee also thanked all officers involved in tracking down Mas Selamat over the past year.
He said he never had a doubt that Mas Selamat would be found because he knew the quality and commitment of the ISD officers working on this.
He said the ISD had recovered quickly from the mistakes which led to Mas Selamat’s escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in February last year.
Mr Lee also thanked the ISD and its Malaysian counterpart, the Special Branch, for working closely together.
— CNA/ir
- - - - - - - - - -
MSK was a national threat. MSK was on intn'l wanted list. his arrest wasn't supposed to be made known to the world?
MSK arrested on April 1, but had prior agreements (meaning agreement made before April 1)? dragonboy was told of the info via najib on april 11, n told to to be hush puppy? so.... which is which? they already know MSK was arrested before or after April 1??
they say they respect the decision from m'sia to keep hush hush about the info, keep quiet for so long, then when press ask about the truth on May 7, then lppl open the cb mouth to confess?? if wanna keep it secret, then continue to keep it secret, if wanna tell, just tell. use what lame excuse to say news leak, so must say??? what logic?
they think our intelligence is equivalent to that of the intelligent intelligence?
