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Interpol on Friday issued an urgent worldwide alert for terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari, who is still on the run after escaping from a detention centre on Wednesday afternoon.

The global police body said it issued an Orange Notice alert following a request by Singapore, nearly 48 hours after the leader of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant network escaped from Internal Security Department (ISD) custody at the Whitley Road Detention Centre at 4.05 pm on Wednesday.

Singapore Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told Parliament on Thursday that a 'security lapse' led to the escape of Mas Selamat, who was linked to the plot to attack Changi Airport and other American establishments in Singapore.

The escape led to an apology from Mr Wong, who is the Deputy Prime Minister and an island-wide manhunt involving thousands of police, military and special operations forces.

Orange Notices can be issued by Interpol's general secretariat in Lyon, France, for any event posing a risk to the safety and security of citizens worldwide.

'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 Jean-Michel Louboutin, executive director of police services.

Kastari's photograph and fingerprints will be sent to Interpol's 186 member countries, the agency said.

An alert went out to the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities on Thursday.

Singapore authorities have tightened border security with the two neighbouring countries and are continuing the search for the fugitive militant, who walks with a limp and is said to be unarmed.

The extensive manhunt continues on Day Three on Friday.

About 40 Gurkha guards searched the thickly-wooden Bukit Brown Chinese emetery off Sime Road on Friday afternoon.

The cemetery is not far from the detention centre where Mas Selamat fled. The huge police and security forces in Goldhill estate, Malcolm Park and Dunearn Road areas were withdrawn on Thursday night and life for residents and students in the area has returned to normal.

On Friday, posters of of Singapore's most wanted man started appearing in many public places, such as MRT stations, shopping centres and mosques.

Teams of policemen have also fanned out to various housing estates distributing leaflets to homes and pushing these into letter boxes asking the public to help look out for the fugitive.

Mas Selamat, a Singaporean citizen, was arrested on the Indonesian island of Bintan near Singapore in 2003 and sentenced by a court there to 18 months in jail.

He was later released but arrested again by Indonesian authorities in January 2006 before being handed over to Singapore, which has held him under the Internal Security Act that allows for detention without trial.

Terrorism experts and analysts said he would try to flee to Indonesia.

by the Straits Times/Asia News Network