Suspected Terrorist Leader Held in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The fugitive leader of a Singapore terrorist network, who allegedly threatened to crash a plane into the island nation’s airport, has been arrested in neighboring Indonesia, police said Monday.

Mas Selamat Kastari, who fled Singapore a year ago after authorities began rounding up terrorist suspects there, was captured on the nearby Indonesian island of Bintan, said Indonesian Lt. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng, head of the criminal investigation bureau.

Police had been following Kastari as he traveled to Bintan by ferry from the island of Sumatra, Mappaseng said. He was carrying a fake identity card and passport when police moved in and arrested him Sunday evening, authorities said.

“He was supposed to be picked up by his friends from Singapore, but those Singaporeans did not turn up,” Mappaseng told reporters. It is unclear whether he was attempting to reenter Singapore, a two-hour boat ride from Bintan.

The arrest of Kastari is a significant step for Indonesian authorities, who until the Oct. 12 bombing of two nightclubs in Bali had been reluctant to acknowledge that international terrorists were operating in their territory.

The Singaporean government says Kastari is the Singapore chief of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asia terrorist group affiliated with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.

A government spokeswoman said officials in Singapore had been informed of the arrest and were seeking to confirm that the man in custody was Kastari.

Jemaah Islamiah, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in Southeast Asia, is blamed for the Bali bombings, which killed nearly 200 people, and a foiled plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Singapore with suicide truck bombs. It is also believed responsible for dozens of other attacks that have killed more than 40 people in the region.

Kastari fled Singapore with several associates in December 2001 after authorities uncovered the Singapore plot and began arresting Jemaah Islamiah members.

In a recent report, the Singaporean government cited Kastari as one of the threats to the small country’s security.

Authorities say he and other terrorism suspects had discussed ways of retaliating against Singapore for breaking up the Jemaah Islamiah network there. One plan he allegedly considered was hijacking a commercial U.S., British or Singaporean plane and crashing it into Singapore’s Changi Airport.

Hours before Indonesian police announced Kastari’s arrest, a bomb exploded at national police headquarters in Jakarta, the capital. No one was hurt.

Cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected leader of Jemaah Islamiah, is being held at the compound. Police said they were investigating “all possibilities,” including that the bombing was connected to his detention.

During a meeting with members of parliament, national Police Chief Dai Bachtiar said the blast was “a small incident, but it has huge political impact” because it increased fears of terrorist attacks.