KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has expressed his gratitude to Malaysia for arresting terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

Lee also told Najib that he was glad the Malaysian authorities had managed to catch the Jemaah Islamiah leader after he escaped a maximum security detention centre in the republic on Feb 27 last year, and eluded a massive manhunt launched by the Singaporean authorities.

Najib said he would discuss the matter further with Lee during his visit to Singapore, scheduled for next week.

"I have mentioned the capture to (Lee) Hsien Loong when we talked in Pattaya (during the Asean + 3 meeting.) He is very happy and grateful that we have succeeded in apprehending Mas Selamat.

"He was planning a lot of things in Singapore. He escaped from Singapore and was hiding in Malaysia but his main focus was in Singapore," he said, confirming that Mas Selamat had managed to slip into the country a few days after his escape.

Asked if Mas Selamat would now be repatriated to Singapore, Najib said he would have to consult the police on the matter.

Najib also congratulated the police for having successfully caught Mas Selamat, who is considered to be a threat to national security.

Mas Selamat, one of the region's most wanted terrorists, was nabbed while he was asleep in a secluded kampung house in Skudai, Johor.

He could not even put up a struggle in his shorts and T-shirt when he was caught during a dawn raid in April.

The Jemaah Islamiah leader of the Singapore chapter, who had a S$1mil (RM2.4mil) bounty on his head, had been living the life of a simple villager.