Singapore police say fugitive militant still on island

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore police said on Sunday that they "strongly believe" the alleged leader of an al Qaeda-linked militant network is still on the island and acting on his own, five days after his shock prison escape.

State-owned Channel NewsAsia reported the police as saying that Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the suspected leader of Singapore's wing of Jemaah Islamiah, "is not helped by anyone, and he has no food, money, nor transport means to flee Singapore."

Police warned that Kastari "could resort to stealing items like clothes and food to survive", the report said.

Kastari's escape on Wednesday from the toilet of a detention centre has sparked an unprecedented nationwide manhunt, with more than a thousand police, soldiers, and elite Nepalese gurkhas mobilized to comb the tiny island's forested nature parks.

Posters with Kastari's pictures and description have been placed at train and bus stations, shopping malls, housing estates and distributed by community leaders. They urge members of the public to call the police if they spot him.

The city-state's three mobile phone operators are also sending out messages with pictures of the fugitive to 3.9 million subscribers, police said.

The escape prompted an apology from the government for what it called a "security lapse". A government minister said late Saturday that an inquiry will be held.

"There will be a proper inquiry and what can be made public, will be made public. We will put things right," The Straits Times newspaper quoted Foreign Minister George Yeo as saying.

Kastari, who was allegedly behind a plot to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport, was being held since 2006 under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.