The United States Embassy said today it has not requested local authorities to investigate alleged links between a Malaysian company and a terrorist suspect charged in connection with the Sept 11 attacks.

Press officer Frank Whitaker said that while embassy officials are aware that a Malaysian company, Infocus Tech (M) Sdn Bhd, was mentioned in the US federal court indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui, they have not been asked by the US government to take any action.

"Any request for an investigation into the matter will have to come directly from the US Department of Justice," he said.

However, Whitaker declined to comment if any contact has been made between the US Justice Department and local authorities.

At a press conference last night, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reaffirmed Malaysia's pledge to work with the US in its 'war against terrorism', but said the government has not been requested to look into the allegation regarding the company.

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing Infocus Tech informed today that he has contacted the US Embassy for further information on Moussaoui's appointment letters mentioned in the Virginia federal court indictment. He is still awaiting their response.

The lawyer, Saiful Kasri, also added that he has not been contacted by any local or foreign authorities.

On Tuesday Infocus Tech denied any connection with Moussaoui, a French Moroccan, said to be the 20th hijacker. He failed to board one of the four jetliners used in the Sept 11 attacks on the US.

In the 30-page indictment, Moussaoui was said to have signed up for flight lessons in Oklahoma using an e-mail account set up on Sept 6 last year with an Internet service provider (ISP) in Malaysia.

It was also stated that he received appointment letters from Infocus Tech as a marketing consultant in the US and Europe.

Online account registration

Saiful clarified yesterday that Infocus Tech, a company incorporated in Kuala Lumpur in 1995, is not an ISP but a distributor of computer hardware and software from the US via an American company, IEX Corporation, which provides workforce management and call rerouting software products.

The IEX website has been unavailable since allegations surfaced linking Infocus Tech with Moussaoui.

At the time when Moussaoui used the Malaysian e-mail account, only two local ISPs - MaxisNet and Jaring - have enabled online account registration.

However, this does not preclude possibilities that an account might have been set up locally on Moussaoui's behalf with any other Malaysian ISPs.