The Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday sent a statement to The Straits Times in response to a Sunday Times report. Here is the statement in full:

'The 'Mas Selamat hunt in Indonesia' report in The Sunday Times, dated July6, quoted a Sumatra Ekspress article which erroneously referred to Ishak (probably referring to Ishak Mohamed Noohu; Ishak) and Rosid (probably referring to Mohamed Rashid Zainal Abidin; Rashid) as two of three Singaporean JI terrorists who were still being hunted by the Indonesian police.

Since the Internal Security Department's (ISD) discovery of the Jemaah Islamiah in Singapore and the plan by Mas Selamat Kastari's group to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport, the ISD has been working quietly behind the scenes with its foreign security and intelligence partners to locate and arrest these elements.

As a result of the close intelligence cooperation and operational collaboration between the ISD and its partners, several of the group members have been arrested overseas and detained by the ISD. These include Ishak, who was arrested overseas and detained under the ISA in November2006, and Rashid, who was also arrested overseas and detained under the ISA in May2006.

The ISD will continue to work with all its foreign security and intelligence partners to arrest other Singaporean JI elements who are still at large.

With regard to whether Mas Selamat Kastari is still in Singapore or if there is a possibility that he has slipped into Indonesia, the Singapore authorities have been working closely with their Indonesian counterparts and other security and intelligence partners in their on-going security operation to locate and apprehend him. However, there has been no intelligence or information to date to suggest that he is in Indonesia.'