Malaysia pledges cooperation against terrorism

Malaysia pledges cooperation against terrorism

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia pledged co-operation in fighting terrorism as it came under scrutiny on Monday after a report that a suspect in the United States attacks had been sighted in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad urged the U.S. to provide further information about Khalid Al-Midhar, believed to be involved in ramming a plane into the Pentagon, newspapers reported on Monday.

Al-Midhar was caught on a surveillance tape while meeting in Malaysia with a man suspected of playing a role in the attack on the USS Cole warship in Aden in October 2000, Newsweek reported at the weekend.

It was not clear when the meeting took place.

The suicide attack on the USS Cole, which killed 17 sailors, was linked by U.S. officials to Islamic militant Osama Bin Laden, who has been named as the prime suspect in last week's assault on New York and Washington.

The FBI last month began an investigation into Al-Midhar and another suspect in the Pentagon attack, Salem Alhamzi, after it was discovered they had entered the United States, the magazine said.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Home Minister, said Malaysian security authorities were prepared to assist the U.S.

"We are not a country providing shelter to terrorist groups, irrespective of whether they are Malaysians or foreigners," he told reporters.

"If they have certain names they want to verify, we are ready to receive the information and investigate."

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia did not want to be used by any militant or terrorist groups.

"Malaysia is one of the countries which has been successful in fighting communism and terrorism through various methods," he said.

The army's Region Two commander for the states of Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo island, Maj. Gen. Mohd Azumi Mohammed, said Malaysia and the Philippines were co-operating to check movements of extremist groups linked to Osama bin Laden.

"We do not condone or support international terrorism," he said.

Reports have suggested that Osama's network -- al-Qaeda, or The Base -- has links with extremists in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Two days after the attacks, the Philippines refused entry to nine Malaysian passport-holders who had spent five months in Pakistan, fearing they could have undergone terrorist training.

Armed forces chief, Gen. Mohd Zahidi Zainuddin, said Malaysia's military was ready to counter any threat to national sovereignty if war erupted in the wake of the terror attacks in the U.S.

Asked by reporters whether Islamic Malaysia could become a target, the general said he was confident this would not arise as the United States had offered assurances that it linked the enemy to terrorism, not religion.

"We have offered our assistance to help fight the terrorists and the U.S. Joint Chief of Staff gave his assurance that the war was against terrorists and not the Muslims," he said.

The Malaysian government has also pointed to the attacks on the U.S. as justification for its widely-condemned use of detention without trial under the internal Security Act (ISA).

Ten alleged Islamic extremists said to belong to a "Malaysian Mujahideen Group", blamed for a spate of crimes including the bombing of a church and an Indian temple, were detained under the ISA in August.

Among the detainees are seven members of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

In a related development, Americans returning home on the first U.S.-bound flights from Malaysia since last week's terrorist attacks were told to empty their pockets of pen knives and any other sharp metal objects.

Every passenger, including children, would also be frisked and their hand luggage inspected just before they boarded the flights, an airport official said, on customary condition of anonymity.

Security was tight on Monday at the ultramodern Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where dozens of uniformed and plainclothes security guards patrolled the departure hall and ushered passengers through checkpoints.