Commuters walk past a poster of suspected Islamic militant Mas Selamat bin Kastari at an MRT train station in Singapore in this April 21, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/FilesSINGAPORE (Reuters) - The suspected leader of a radical Islamist group linked to the 2002 Bali bombings has been arrested in Malaysia, more than a year after his escape from a high-security prison in Singapore, media reports said on Friday.
Mas Selamat Kastari was the alleged mastermind of a plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport.
Singapore authorities have also accused him of planning truck bomb attacks at several sites across the island state, including the American Club and U.S. Embassy.
A Singapore government spokeswoman confirmed the arrest but gave no other details on where or when.
The Straits Times newspaper, quoting intelligence sources, said Mas Selamat was captured on April 1 and is being held in Malaysia for interrogation.
Officials said Mas Selamat was a leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a pan-Asian radical Islamic group linked to al-Qaeda and responsible for several attacks across Southeast Asia, including the Bali bombings.
His escape from the Whitley Road Detention Center on Feb 27, 2008 through an unlocked toilet window prompted a huge manhunt in Singapore and a global security alert from Interpol. Singapore subsequently sacked or disciplined nine officials.
More than 200 people, many of them foreign tourists from Australia, died in 2002 when militants exploded bombs at several nightclubs in Bali. The Indonesian resort island also suffered bomb attacks in 2005 that killed 20 people.
Mas Selamat was originally arrested by Indonesian police in January 2006 who then handed him over to Singapore authorities.
He had been held under Singapore's Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial, and has not been formally charged with any crimes.
© REUTERS 2009
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