The Iranian asylum seeker who set himself on fire today near the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur, had sent out a fax message yesterday to several newspapers about his intention to commit suicide.

According to reporters who had gathered outside the compound this morning, Gulam Hassan Anwari walked up to them and dropped a letter on the ground before setting himself alight.

In the five-page letter, Gulam, in his 40s, stated the reasons for the attempted self-immolation and signed off saying, "I wish a good life for everyone".

Eyewitnesses said Gulam arrived at the UNHCR office in Jalan Bellamy, Bukit Petaling, in a taxi at about 11.20am with a female friend, who is in her 20s.

He then doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire. He was engulfed for several minutes before another taxi driver, who was in the area, used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

His clothes were partially burnt off and he appeared to have suffered severe burns over his whole body, eyewitnesses said.

An ambulance arrived in about 15 minutes to take him to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment. When contacted, an official with the UNHCR, who is in contact with the hospital, said that Gulam suffered internal burns and third degree burns all over his body.

"He is in a criticial condition and is now put on a respirator. Doctors are giving him slim chances of survival," she added * [See update below] .

Application rejected

One witness, taxi driver Abdul Aziz Ramesh Abdullah, said he had picked up Gulam and his friend from Damansara Damai early this morning.

He said Gulam had asked him to stop at a petrol station along the way where he purchased a container of petrol.

Abdul Aziz said he dropped off his passengers outside the UNHCR but turned back because he was concerned by the man's behaviour and the fact that the young woman was pleading with him (Gulam) during the journey.

While driving past, Abdul Aziz said he saw the petrol container nearby, but that it was only half-full by then.

"I parked my car and was walking up, when I saw the man on fire," he said.

UNHCR protection officer Shinji Kubo ( photo ) said Gulam's asylum application was rejected two years ago and that the agency has no record of him visiting them since then.

"His case was reviewed and rejected about two years. We are still verifying his status. He made no recent approaches to UNHCR and we have no record of him contacting us in the past one year," he said.

Kubo said the UNHCR did not received advance notice of Gulam's intention to commit suicide.

Contents of letter

In his letter, Gulam identified himself as being from the Baluchistan region at the Iran-Pakistan border, saying he had come to Malaysia in 2001 on a Pakistani passport.

"I interviewed with the United Nations a few times ( sic ). My file is there. They gave me a certificate that my case was under consideration. They renewed it a few times but rejected me in the end," he said in the letter.

Much of the remaining details focused on Gulam's failed business venture with a local company.

He claimed that he had been cheated by his business partners of some RM800,000 which he put up in advance in order to supply scarves and dates to retailers in Jalan Masjid India.

Gulam claimed that he had not been paid for the merchandise and that he had been beaten up several times when he tried to collect the money owed to him.

In addition, he claimed that the company was also involved in an extensive drugs smuggling and passport fraud syndicate.

"I found out that the company did many illegal things like selling drugs in Iran (China and Japan) and ... selling passports and visas," he alleged, identifying the company and the names of several individuals allegedly linked to its operations.

Gulam also said he had proof of the transactions and urged police to investigate the alleged crimes.

Baluchistan is located at the border regions of Pakistan with Iran and Afghanistan. A troubled and poverty-stricken area today, it has been wracked by intermittent fighting between rival groups.

For more than 50 years, Baluch nationalists have sporadically fought for a separate Baluch nation although their last major campaign, which was suppressed, took place in the 1970s.

In the aftermath of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States and the subsequent war in Afghanistan, Baluchistan was named as an area of concern.

It is deemed to be among the countries that serve as a base for underground networks supplying arms and money to rebel groups fighting against the Afghan government and its international supporters.

*UPDATE: Gulam, who was placed under a life support at the intensive care unit of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, died at about 8.30pm last night.