Terrorist pulled out of plan after observing September 11 carnage

A MALAYSIAN recruited by al-Qaida to pilot a plane in a second wave of September 11-style attacks on the United States pulled out after observing the carnage of the 2001 assaults, south-east Asian officials said yesterday.

US President George W Bush on Thursday outlined details of an alleged plot to hijack an airliner and fly it into a skyscraper in Los Angeles. He said co-operation between Washington and several Asian countries helped expose it.

The plan never appeared close to the stage where it could be put into execution. Scores of arrests in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks severely curtailed al-Qaida and its south-east Asian affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah.