Malaysia: Banks on look-out for bin Laden transactions

Malaysia’s central bank has warned local financial institutions to watch out for suspicious transactions following reports that terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden’s organisation operated an account in Malaysia.

Bank Negara Malaysia issued a statement saying Malaysian anti-money laundering laws prohibited financial institutions from being associated with any form of criminal activity.

The Utusan Malaysia newspaper yesterday quoted a former terrorist as naming Malaysia as one of several countries in which bin Laden’s organisation, al Queda, operated bank accounts.

The report was based on transcripts from the trial in the United States of four men who were convicted of the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa in which 231 people were killed.

The transcripts are available on the internet.

Bin Laden has been indicted in the embassy bombings, and US officials say he is the prime suspect last year’s bombing of the USS Cole and in the deadly attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11.

National police chief Norian Mai said on Tuesday that police would leave it to Bank Negara and the bank involved to investigate the claim.

Norian also said that several suspects in last week’s terror attacks had earlier visited Malaysia, but were not stopped because they carried valid travel documents and appeared to be tourists.

Newsweek magazine, citing Washington sources, reported that US officials videotaped a meeting in Kuala Lumpur last year between one of the hijackers involved in the Pentagon attack and a suspect in the Cole bombing.

Malaysian officials have said they will cooperate fully with US investigators. But Norian said police had not been contacted by US officials in relation to the matter.