(AFP) Malaysia today said it was awaiting further details on a Philippines proposal to create a regional anti-terrorist coalition.

Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak, secretary-general of the Malaysian foreign ministry, told AFP he had not received "anything officially from Manila."

Manila yesterday said it would initiate the creation of a regional anti-terrorist coalition to support a looming US retaliation against attackers that partly destroyed the Pentagon and reduced the World Trade Center towers into rubble last week.

"Let's see. Let it be clear what the proposal is," he said when asked if Malaysia backed Philippines' plan.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo met with congressional leaders and her cabinet to draw up a specific response to the US global war on terrorism.

Arroyo, in the meeting, backed a proposal by House Speaker Jose de Venecia to "immediately initiate the organization of a regional anti-terrorist coalition consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia," presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said.

The three Southeast Asian neighbors are themselves facing their own Muslim separatist problems.

Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad earlier this month warned that a Malaysian-based group of Islamic radicals had forged links with Philippine and Indonesian separatists waging a rebellion against their governments.