The lawyer representing a Malaysian company said to have hired a terrorist suspect in the Sept 11 attacks, is seeking copies of the alleged hijacker's appointment letters mentioned in a United States federal court indictment.

Saiful Kasri told malaysiakini he had contacted the US Embassy this morning but was unable to obtain further information on this matter.

"I am also trying to get in touch with the Federal prosecutor's office through my contacts in the US," said Saiful who was appointed this morning to represent Infocus Tech (M) Sdn Bhd, a distributor of digital products.

When asked, he said he had not dealt with the company previously.

Yesterday, malaysiakini reported that Infocus Tech denied having any links to Zacarias Moussaoui, said to be the 20th hijacker who failed to board one of the four jetliners which were comandeered for the Sept 11 attacks after he was arrested for passport violations in August.

Moussaoui, a French Moroccan, was charged on Tuesday at the Virginia federal court with conspiring with 'prime suspect' Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda movement to "murder thousands of people" in New York City, Pennsylvania and Washington DC.

In the 30-page indictment, Moussaoui was said to have signed up for lessons at a flight school in Oklahoma using his e-mail account with an Internet service provider (ISP) in Malaysia.

It was also stated that Moussaoui received appointment letters from Infocus Tech to be the marketing consultant in the US and Europe, and that he would receive a US$2,500 monthly pay.

Not an ISP

However, Saiful said today that the controversy surrounding Infocus Tech was sparked off by a misconception in the western media that the company was the ISP mentioned in the indictment.

"Infocus Tech is not an ISP but a distributor of computer hardware and software from the US," he said.

The lawyer said he has yet to receive any enquiries from local or American authorities for additional information.

Moussaoui had attended aviation courses in Norman, Oklahoma, last year but failed to obtain his pilot's licence.

He subsequently attempted to seek training at a Minnesota flight school where he reportedly told an instructor that he just wanted to "learn steering, not landing".

This aroused suspicions and led to his arrest Aug 17 with several questionable items found in his possession, among others, flight manuals for the Boeing 747 model 400, a flight simulator computer programme, and letters indicating that he was an Infocus Tech staff in the US.