KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6: The US had 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.

“The US have sought Interpol help to detain and deport Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal from Malaysia,” the official told AFP on Sunday. “We are still looking for him. But we are not sure if he is in Malaysia.”

Bilal was named by the authorities on Friday as one of the six people charged with conspiring to wage war against the US.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said four of the six were in custody following a sweep by the law enforcement agencies in Portland, Oregon, and Detroit.

Bilal is one of the two remaining at large overseas. Five of the six are US citizens. The defendants are: Jeffrey Leon Battle, Patrice Lumumba Ford, Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, Mohammad Ibrahim Bilal and Habis Abdullah al Saoub. The sole woman, October Martinique Lewis, was Battle’s ex-wife, he said.—AFP