Kasteri Reportedly Escapes from Singapore

By Kenneth Conboy

Jemaah Islamiyah member Mas Selamet bin Kasteri reportedly escaped from a Singaporean detention center on the evening of 27 February. Earlier this decade, Kasteri had been the head of a Singaporean cell within JI. He was renowned for his particularly violent plots against targets in Singapore (hijacking a plane and crashing it into Changi Airport, for example), though none were ever actually carried out.

After the 11 September 2001 attacks, and the crackdowns against JI in Singapore in Malaysia, Kasteri fled to Indonesia. He was eventually captured in Indonesia and repatriated to Singapore.

If the reports of his escape are correct and the past is any precedent, Kasteri may well be seeking sanctuary in Indonesia once again.

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