Updated version One of the suspected hijackers involved in the suicide attack on the Pentagon building last Tuesday was reported to have been seen in Malaysia, and the government has vowed to cooperate with US authorities to investigate the claim.

According to a CNN report today, the suspect, Khalid Al-Midhar, was seen on a surveillance tape meeting with a man in Kuala Lumpur, who US officials suspect played a hand in last year's attack on the USS Cole warship in Yemen.

Bernama later reported Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as saying that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation should liaise with local authorities if they had such information.

I don't know whether they have liaised with our authorities at the official level," said Mahathir.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told Bernama earlier that the government was ready to cooperate with US authorities in its investigation.

"If they have a certain name and they would like to check with us, especially whether such a person was in Malaysia, we will check that," he was quoted as saying.

However, Abdullah, who is also home affairs minister added that he has not received any news or reports regarding the matter so far except from members of the press

Under surveillance

The CNN report, which quoted sources, said that Khalid and another suspect have been under surveillance before the attacks because of their alleged links with Osama bin Laden and the USS Cole bombing.

Bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire, is the prime suspect in Tuesday's attacks on the Pentagon in Washington DC and New York's World Trade Center, which saw the loss of more than 5,000 lives.

Terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and slammed two into the WTC's 110-storey twin towers and one into the Pentagon. The fourth hijacked plane, believed to be headed for the White House, crashed in Pennsylvania.

The attacks shocked the world and US President George W Bush vowed to avenge the deaths. Military retaliation against Afghanistan is expected, where bin Laden is reported to be hiding.

Following the attacks, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government would support the US in combating terrorism but called for proper and cautious measures.

Twenty-one Malaysians working in the WTC building have been confirmed safe while the status of four others remains unknown.