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Terror suspect slips away from police

By Times Wires
Published February 29, 2008

SINGAPORE

The Singapore government apologized Thursday for a security lapse that allowed a suspected Islamic terrorist leader to escape from jail a day earlier, triggering a manhunt across this usually well-policed island nation. Authorities said Mas Selamat Kastari, who once plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's international airport, is commander of the Singapore arm of Jemaah Islamiyah, an extremist group allied with al-Qaida. Minister of Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng said Mas Selamat escaped after being taken from his cell for a scheduled visit by his family in central Singapore, but offered no details.

CANBERRA, Australia

Fisherman swims 12 hours to shore

A fisherman made a 12-hour swim to shore and another was rescued after 30 hours in the sea, after their fishing trawler sank off Australia's eastern coast, authorities said. When deck hand Michael Williams, 39, reached shore, he notified authorities about the sinking. "He's very strong," said his mother, Fay Williams. The second deckhand, John Jarrett, was found clinging to a fiberglass tabletop Thursday about 9 miles offshore, Ten Network television reported. "I've got a determination like no other person," Jarrett said. The search continued Thursday for the trawler's skipper.

KUSCE, Kosovo

Police stage mass walk-out in protest

Scores of Serb officers have deserted the Kosovo police force since the new state declared independence, snubbing ethnic Albanian leaders and shattering the only institution in which real cooperation existed between the ethnic groups. Some 170 of the force's Serb 800 officers have either quit or not shown up for work since the Feb. 17 declaration, police officials said Thursday. Dozens of others have threatened to follow suit. Authorities in Belgrade have been encouraging Kosovo Serbs to boycott the fledgling government's institutions.

MILAN, Italy

Counterfeiters whip up Ferraris

Italian financial police have broken up a ring of counterfeiters who built fake Ferraris and sold them for as little as $30,000 a car, officials said Thursday. Authorities have confiscated 14 fake Ferrari Modena 360s, which if genuine would cost about $150,000. Guido Geremia, who led the investigation, said the buyers knew the cars were fakes. The ring used mostly Pontiacs as their base, but also Mercedes and Toyotas, building a copy of a Ferrari body over the original car's chassis. "It was done very well - they were very skilled," Geremia said.

Elsewhere

Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan: A house in Pakistan's wild frontier zone was blown up Thursday, killing up to 12 suspected militants. Intelligence officials said a U.S. drone may have fired a missile at the house.

[Last modified February 29, 2008, 01:31:34]