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.