The United States should cooperate with Southeast Asian countries in bringing alleged terror kingpin Hambali to trial, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said today.

There should be coordination among the United States, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia to make sure international law is adhered to, he said.

"I think a lot people think that the arrest of Hambali is the work of one country. But I can tell you why we were successful in this particular case was because of the cooperation between the countries, including Malaysia.

"So all of us are involved in this particular case in order to ensure Hambali will not be able to carry out his activities and cause so much harm and loss of lives to innocent peole," Syed Hamid told reporters.

Transparency important

It did not matter where Hambali was put on trial but justice must be seen to be served, he said.

"So I think where ever he is tried, it does not matter. It is a crime against the international community. The most important thing is that laws must be respected.

"There must be transparency in the dealing (with Hambali) so that the public in each one of the countries is satisfied with the way this matter is handled," he said.

The United States is holding Hambali at an undisclosed location after his arrest in Thailand on Aug 11.

Hambali, an Indonesian also known as Riduan Isamuddin, is the alleged operations chief of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), a Southeast Asian network blamed for a string of terrorist attacks.

Amnesty International in a statement Friday criticised the decision to hold Hambali at a secret location and said he should receive a fair trial. - AFP