|
INTERPOL has sent out an urgent worldwide security alert for the leader of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant network nearly 48 hours after he escaped from a detention centre on Wednesday afternoon.
It posted an Orange Notice on its website on Friday, with a photograph of Mas Selamat Kastari, who escaped from the toilet of the Whitley Road Detention Centre, where he was being held following his deportation from Indonesia to Singapore in February 2006.
Singapore Home Affairs Minister told Parliament on Thursday that a 'security lapse' at the detention centre which allowed the JI militant to escape.
The father of five had been taken from his cell to go to the visitors area to meet his family, when he asked to use the toilet. He then fled at about 4.05pm on Wednesday, sparking a massive land, sea and air manhunt.
Following a request from Singapore, Interpol issued the Orange Notice - which includes Kastari's photograph and fingerprints, essential elements to help law enforcement officers in their search and eventual verification of his identity when located and arrested - to each of its 186 National Central Bureaus (NCBs).
'Singapore is clearly doing all that it can on a national level to locate this fugitive and through issuing an Orange Notice, Interpol and all of its member countries can support these efforts on an international scale,' said Executive Director of Police Services Jean-Michel Louboutin.
The Orange Notice was originally created to warn police, public entities and other international organisations of potential threats related to disguised weapons, explosives and other dangerous materials. However it can also be issued by Interpol's General Secretariat in Lyon, France for any act or event which poses a risk to the safety and security of citizens around the world.
| 
