Singapore frees detainees over security threat

SINGAPORE, June 30 (Reuters) Singapore said today ithad released five people over links to Jemaah Islamiah, a militant group linked to al Qaeda, and that it had recently detained five more suspects.

The five detainees released had cooperated with the government in investigations into JI and had responded positively to rehabilitation, including religious rehabilitation, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

''They are assessed to no longer pose a security threat to Singapore,'' it said.

No further details were available.

The government said five more JI suspects were detained between March and May this year.

Among the detainees was Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged leader of the Singapore JI network, accused of planning to attack local targets such as the US Embassy, the American Club and the Ministry of Defence headquarters.

The government said he fled Singapore in December 2001 after the arrests of local JI members, but continued to target the city-state -- plotting to hijack an airplane in order to crash it into Changi Airport.

REUTERS SHB ND1814