Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday described the escape of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Mas Selamat Kastari as a setback and urged Singaporeans to overcome this setback and close ranks.
According to Channel NewsAsia reports, in his first public comments on the JI leader's escape, the prime minister admitted that the authorities were not absolutely sure yet what happened, while promising they would find out what went wrong and "fix it". He called on singaporeans to overcome this setback
While security forces in the country would learn and grow from this, he said such a mistake must never be repeated.
On whether the JI leader is still in Singapore, he said that they had no reason to believe that he had left the city state.
"I have been talking to the ministers responsible and I think we have a good chance of catching him, provided he is still in Singapore," he said.
Lee said that it was good to see how Singaporeans of all races had come together to distribute flyers to residents and maintain watch.
The JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from Singapore's Whitley road detention center on February 27. Police officers and Singapore Armed forces (SAF) soldiers have since then begun a nationwide search for the JI leader.
A committee of inquiry has also been set up to look into how the escape occurred.
Source:Xinhua
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