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| Southeast Asia |
| Singapore: Terror suspect admits to airport crash plot |
| 2009-01-16 |
| (AKI) - A Singaporean terror suspect admitted that he and an Islamist militant fugitive planned to hijack an airplane in Thailand and crash it into Singapore's Changi Airport. "We wanted to do it out of anger with Singapore for being an ally of the United States for what it did in Afghanistan," said Mohammed Hassan Saynudin, quoted by Singaporean daily, The Straits Times. Saynudin and alleged member of the militant Jemaah Islamiyah, Mas Selamat Kastari failed to carry out the attack six years ago after Thai authorities found out about it. "What I was trying to do was to defend Islam and Muslims," he said. Saynudin, 35, appeared in the South Jakarta District Court in the Indonesian capital to face terrorism charges. If convicted, he may be executed. Kastari is accused of being a leader of the JI terror organisation. He was being held without trial in a detention centre in Singapore and escaped last February after asking for a toilet break during a family visit. Kastari fled Singapore in 2001 after the authorities cracked down on JI and arrested dozens of its members. |
| Posted by:Fred |