Malaysia asked to hunt American terror suspect

Malaysia asked to hunt American terror suspect

Agencies, Kuala Lumpur

The United States has asked Malaysia to help capture an American terrorist suspect after the arrest in the U.S. of four people from an alleged terror cell linked to the al-Qaeda network, a security official said on Sunday.

"The U.S. have sought Interpol help to detain and deport Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal from Malaysia," the official told AFP. "We are still looking for him. But we are not sure if he is in Malaysia."

Bilal was named by the U.S. authorities on Friday as one of six people charged with conspiring to wage war or jihad against the United States with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Four of the six are in custody following a joint sweep by U.S. law enforcement agencies in Portland, Oregon, and Detroit, Michigan, Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

Ahmed Bilal is one of two others remaining at large overseas. Five of the six are U.S. citizens.

The five male defendants were identified as Jeffrey Leon Battle, Patrice Lumumba Ford, Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, Muhammad Ibrahim Bilal and Habis Abdullah al Saoub. The sole woman, named as October Martinique Lewis, was Battle's ex-wife, Ashcroft said.

Battle was a former member of the U.S. military reserve, Ashcroft said.

The suspects were charged on four counts: conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support for foreign terror groups, conspiracy to contribute services to al-Qaeda and the Taliban and possession of firearms, he said.

"If convicted of these crimes, these defendants will face up to life in prison," Ashcroft said.

The indictment says that following the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, the defendants acquired firearms and took part in weapons training and began to travel to Afghanistan to join Taliban and al-Qaeda troops battling U.S. forces.

It charges them with buying air tickets to Hong Kong with the intent of traveling to then Taliban-controlled Afghanistan via China and Pakistan.

Three of the defendants, Ashcroft said, returned to the United States in late 2001 and early 2002.

Malaysia, a mainly Muslim Southeast Asian nation, has supported the U.S. war on terrorism and has detained 63 alleged Islamic militants belonging to a group linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Separately, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Sunday that the United States' move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital on paper will add to the causes of terrorism.

"This will increase the anger of the Palestinians and doesn't help the fight against terrorists. We are increasing the causes for terrorism," he added.

Mahathir, an outspoken critic of the West for what he sees as persecution of Muslims, also said the UN Security Council was a crippled entity that could not stop unilateral actions.

President George W. Bush signed legislation on Monday requiring the U.S. administration to identify Jerusalem and not Tel Aviv as Israel's capital in U.S. government documents.