Several United States investigators conducted a short interview with terrorist suspect Yazid Sufaat ( photo ) this morning amidst high-level security at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak.

Although the officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were reported to have entered the detention centre for two hours, lawyer to Yazid, Saiful Izham Ramli, said the meeting took only half an hour.

"There were two FBI officials and two Malaysian officers," said Saiful who was also present at the interview at Yazid's request.

The FBI officers arrived in Kuala Lumpur last Friday in preparation for the interview with the terrorist suspect over his alleged links to al-Qaeda.

Yazid has been held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) since December last year on charges that he is a member of the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), a 'militant' organisation which is said to have plotted to overthrow the government.

Cooperating with FBI

According to Saiful, the investigators had questioned Yazid over his links to Zacarias Moussaoui ( photo ), a French national who is currently in detention in the US on terrorism-related charges.

"The investigators wanted to know what was his relationship with Zacarias Moussaoui," said the lawyer while declining to elaborate further on the details of the interview.

Asked if the FBI officers had included any inquiries into alleged links between the KMM and Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Saiful said the questions had "nothing to do with JI".

"I cannot give any more details but Yazid was cooperating with the officers.

"I am not sure if they will require other interviews but that's it for now," Saiful added.

Yazid has been linked to Zacarias after he was found to have hosted the latter during a visit to Malaysia a year before the Sept 11 attacks and provided him with a letter of appointment as a US marketing agent for Infocus Tech, a Malaysian computer software company.

The request to interview Yazid came after the FBI failed to garner much information from Zacarias, beyond his admission that he is a member of al-Qaeda.

Although initially thought to be the "20th hijacker" who was prevented from carrying out his mission because he was already under arrest in the US, several reports recently suggested that he might instead have been planning another attack.

Tight security

Meanwhile, Yazid's wife, Sejahratul Dursina @ Chomel Mohamad, said her husband appeared to be "pretty cool" about the interview when she visited him yesterday.

In preparation for his interview with US investigators, Sejahratul said Yazid had met with several policemen last Friday in the presence of his lawyer.

"There were also a lot of Special Branch officers at Kamunting yesterday. I think they were there to make sure that the premises is secured for the interview," she observed.

Earlier, Sejahratul had told malaysiakini that her husband was not very well acquainted with Zacarias, and had only known him as a businessman.

Although the FBI officers were said to have focused on Yazid's ties with Zacarias, it was expected that the investigators could have been also interested in finding out more about Yazid's alleged links with al-Qaeda operations.

Yazid's condominium in Kajang, Selangor, was allegedly used in early 2000 by two hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who were on the plane which crashed into the Pentagon.

Yazid also admitted to having acquired four tons of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural chemical that can be used to make explosives. The stockpile has never been found, but is believed to have reached Indonesia.

His wife Sejahratul was also detained under the ISA for two months early this year but was released in June on condition that her movements will be closely monitored for two years.