Author:
Publication: BBC News
Date: February 3, 2003
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2719693.stm
Police in Indonesia say they have
arrested the leader of the Singapore branch of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the
regional militant network accused of carrying out the Bali bombings last
year.
Mas Slamet Kastari was detained
on Sunday evening in the city of Tanjungpinang on the Indonesian island
of Bintan, Lieutenant-General Erwin Mappaseng told the BBC.
Mas Slamet had been on the run since
2001, when Singaporean police implicated him in a plot to crash an airplane
into Changi International airport.
More than 50 alleged members of
JI have been arrested over the last year in Singapore and Malaysia.
News of Mas Slamet's detention came
hours after a small bomb went off at the national headquarters of Indonesia's
police force in the capital, Jakarta.
'Significant breakthrough'
Indonesian police say they have
been on the trail of Mas Slamet Kastari for a few days, after receiving
a tip-off from their Singaporean counterparts.
He was first sighted on the Indonesian
island of Sumatra, then followed to Bintan island, just off the coast of
Singapore.
There, according to police, he was
supposed to meet with two accomplices who failed to turn up.
"He was carrying a fake identity
card and passport," Lieutenant- General Mapasseng said.
The BBC correspondent in Jakarta,
Rachel Harvey, says the arrest marks a significant breakthrough for the
security forces.
Recent improvements in co-operation
between police forces in the region could be starting to pay dividends,
she says.
Also on Monday Indonesian police
said they had arrested a Malaysian man who they said was involved in the
planning and financing of the Bali bombing.
A total of 30 suspects have now
been arrested in connection with the Bali attacks, which killed nearly
200 people, mostly foreign tourists.
Police have also linked Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir, allegedly the spiritual leader of the JI network, with the Bali
bomb.
Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who has denied
being involved in terrorism and denies being a member of JI, is in custody
in Jakarta on charges of involvement in a series of church bombings in
2000.
Despite the number of arrests, police
say several key suspects are still on the run.
One man still at large is JI's alleged
operations chief, Hambali.
Bomb attack
Police said Monday's bomb blast
in Jakarta occurred after the police station had been cordoned off following
the discovery of a suspicious-looking bag in the building's lobby.
Police said no one was hurt in the
blast, but police chief General Da'i Bachtiar said the explosion had "a
huge political impact".
No group has so far claimed responsibility
for the attack.
