The US has warned of continued "hostile threats" here as Malaysian police today asked Washington to provide information to back up its claim that the country could be the target of a Bali-style terrorist attack.

The US embassy closed briefly on the anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks this year after receiving a "credible and specific threat," and US ambassador Marie T Huhtala said the threat remained.

"Not that specific credible threat we had on that day, but we are very much aware that there are still hostile threats out there," she told CNN in an interview aired yesterday.

Huhtala said Malaysia has a visa-free policy for people from Islamic countries and "some terrorists took advantage of their hospitality to do some of their planning here."

But she praised Malaysia's "outstanding cooperation" and its efforts to set up a regional anti-terrorism centre in partnership with the US next year

Members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network, including hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi who were aboard the plane which crashed into the Pentagon, met in Malaysia in early 2000.

Duty bound

Huhtala defended US travel warnings on Southeast Asia, saying her government was duty bound to inform its citizens of any possible danger.

"There's never any hidden agenda to, you know, destroy their economy or discourage tourism to their countries," she said.

The US State Department warning Wednesday specifically mentioned Malaysia as a country where Westerners could be at risk of attack by the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network.

It reiterated concern about the activities of the Abu Sayyaf group, which operates in the southern Philippines, close to Sabah.

The warning drew outrage here and national police chief Norian Mai today said the US embassy here would be asked to give details over the warning which he described as "baseless."

"If they have information, I think they are duty-bound to pass the information to us so that necessary action can be taken," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Norian said Malaysian police were working closely with their Indonesian counterparts, and it was unlikely that those behind the Bali blasts could have escaped to Malaysia.

"I'm confident that measures undertaken by us in Sabah jointly with the armed forces are adequate to ensure security in that region."

Economic sabotage

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also rapped the US for disregarding Malaysia's cooperation in the anti-terror war. He said the warning could amount to economic sabotage.

"They should tell us who, where and when so that we can take action to prevent such attacks from happening instead of making such baseless allegations," Mahathir was quoted as saying by The Star .

"But instead of telling us, they went and issued a public warning like that. Are they prepared to take a bet that such an attack will happen here? If it does not happen, the warning will only damage our economy."

Mahathir said Washington had no right to pass judgement when the country itself was a dangerous place.

"The most dangerous place is the US. A lone gunman is enough to create havoc in Washington," he said, referring to the sniper who had terrorised the Washington area for weeks.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia, which has detained more than 70 Islamic militants suspected of links to JI since middle of last year, is also party to a regional anti-terrorism pact with Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand. AFP