A senior security official today said Malaysia had no information about the presence in the country of a suspected Muslim separatist leader wanted in Thailand.

Thai deputy prime minister responsible for security Chavalit Yongchaiyudh had asked Malaysia to extradite Masea Useng, accused of involvement in a flare-up of deadly violence in the kingdom's south near the border with Malaysia.

"We have no information about the said personality. We had in the past received names of other fugitives from our Thai counterparts. We have no knowledge about Masea," the intelligence officer told AFP .

He said Malaysia had not received any official request about Masea Useng from Thailand.

"If there is a request, we will investigate. And if he is in Malaysia and he is detained, Thai authorities will revoke his passport and he will be deported," he added.

Thailand believes several people have escaped into Malaysia after launching a campaign of violence in the deep south on Jan 4 with a raid on a military depot that killed four Thai soldiers.

Following that raid about a dozen police officers, government officials and Buddhist monks have been murdered in the area, where a separatist movement has rumbled on for decades. - AFP