Singapore switches to targeted search for accused Islamic terrorist

Thousands of police, Army troops and special forces "remain operationally ready for immediate deployment" should the need arise, he said.

 Mas Selamat Kastari, 47, the alleged Singapore head of the Jemaah Islamiyah South-East Asian terrorism network, fled from the Internal Security Department's detention centre February 27 and has been the subject of an unprecedented manhunt covering forests, nature reserves, urban areas and shorelines.

 Beefed-up security checks have caused waits of up to eight hours at checkpoints to Malaysia. Shopkeepers in those areas have complained that their businesses have been severely affected.

 Wong, who is also the home affairs minister, said on the Home Affairs Ministry website that the best available information "from our own sources and from our foreign security and intelligence partners" indicated Mas Selamat is still hiding in Singapore.

 "If necessary, we will also amend our laws to strengthen policing within Singapore territorial waters to ensure that we more effectively detect and respond to a possible escape by sea," Wong said.

 Mas Selamat, accused of plotting to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport in 2001, was turned over to Singapore by Indonesia in 2006. He has been held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

 A three-member panel is seeking to determine how Mas Selamat managed to escape after being given permission to use a bathroom prior to a family visit at the centre.

 Interpol has issued an international alert for the fugitive.

 The ministry disclosed Sunday the detention of Rijal Yadri Jumari, 27, who is accused of having links with al-Qaeda and, like Mas Selamat, was sent for terrorist training in Afghanistan.//dpa