(AFP) Defence Minister Najib Razak said there was no reason for the United States to launch a military strike on Malaysia in its hunt for international terrorists.

Najib said Malaysia, a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, had never sheltered any terrorists on the US wanted list.

"I don't think they will attack us," he was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper.

Najib said the US was still investigating the list of terrorists worldwide to determine the roles they had played in the attacks.

A man named as a suspect in the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States was allowed into Malaysia.

No criminal record

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Friday said immigration authorities allowed the suspect to enter the country as he did not have a criminal record.

His comments followed a US report that a suspect in the airliner which hit the Pentagon had been caught on a surveillance tape in Kuala Lumpur meeting a man linked to Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect behind the US attacks.

Newsweek magazine said suspect Khalid Al-Midhar met another man believed to have played a part in the attack on the warship USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October last year.

It was unclear when the two met.

Abdullah, who is also the home affairs minister had earlier pledged cooperation with the United States and said Malaysia would not shelter groups engaging in terrorism irrespective of whether they were Malaysians or foreigners.