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

"The US 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 US authorities 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 US law enforcement agencies in Portland, Oregon, and Detroit, Michigan, Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

Charged on four counts

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

Three back in US

The indictment says that following the attacks on the United States on September 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 US forces.

It charges them with buying air tickets to Hong Kong with the intent of travelling 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 US war on terrorism and has detained 63 alleged Islamic militants belonging to a group linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. AFP