Militant escaped without trousers, remains in Singapore

By Melanie Lee and Daryl Loo

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A suspected Islamic militant fled without his trousers from an unlocked toilet window at a Singapore detention centre, but is thought to be still in the city-state two months after his escape, the government said on Monday.

Singapore's deputy prime minister, Wong Kan Seng, told parliament Mas Selamat bin Kastari could strike the city-state if he managed to hook up with the Jemaah Islamiah network, blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people.

Kastari, the suspected leader of the Singapore cell of al Qaeda-linked JI, flipped his trousers above the toilet cubicle door before escaping through a window, Wong said in a briefing to parliament on the investigation into the escape.

"The guard had assumed that the urinal cubicle was a secure facility and that Mas Selamat could not escape from it. This assumption was wrong," he said.

He said the two guards who escorted Kastari to the toilet had "failed in their duties" and the officers responsible would be "replaced". The government has apologised for the security lapse but has not announced the dismissal of any senior officials.

"In my view, the security weakness of this window is the single most crucial factor which enabled Mas Selamat to escape," said Wong, who was grilled for more than two hours by parliamentarians.

Wong said Kastari had planned his escape "over time".

Kastari had changed into a yellow baju kurung, or tunic-like Malay traditional dress, and trousers for a meeting with his family at the detention centre, but could have taken his detention clothes with him during the escape, Wong said.