It would be interesting to see how the government takes on Newsweek in court for citing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report as saying that Malaysia was a 'primary operational launchpad' for the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The FBI report said that Malaysian authorities had identified Yazid Sufaat, a former Malaysian army captain, as a al-Qaeda terrorist network supporter after he allegedly met with two hijackers in Kuala Lumpur in January 2000.

According to other reports, Yazid Sufaat, 37, has already been detained along with others at the Kamunting detention center in northern Malaysia "for being involved in activities that threaten national security".

It was reported that police said that the suspects belonged to a group that was trained by the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and had links with Islamic militant groups in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore.

This being the case, the Malaysian authorities' pre-emptive action would appear to corroborate rather than contradict the Newsweek report.

Sometimes it is not so good to shout when, by one's own action, one shoots one's own leg.