Malaysian on FBI's most wanted list

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Zulkifli Abd Khir, who fought alongside Osama in Afghanistan, is on the FBI's "most wanted terrorists" list for his role in a string of terror activities here, Indonesia and in the Philippines.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Osama bin Laden may have been removed from the FBI's "10 most wanted" list but among those still being sought is a Malaysian who has a US$5 million (RM15 million) reward on his head.

Zulkifli Abd Khir, who fought alongside Osama in Afghanistan, is on the FBI's "most wanted terrorists" list for his role in a string of terror activities here, Indonesia and in the Philippines.

He is the head of Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) and a member of Jemaah Islamiyah's (JI) central command.

He was a protege of JI bomb expert Dr Azahari Hussin, a Malaysian who was killed by an Indonesian anti-terrorism unit on Nov 9, 2005.

Zulkifli, 45, is wanted for his role in leading KMM in the Southern Bank robbery in Petaling Jaya in May 2001, the murder of Lunas assemblyman Dr Joe Fernandez in early 2000 and the bombing of a Hindu temple in Pudu here.

A reward of RM50,000 was offered for his capture but he fled to Indonesia where he was believed to be involved in the Bali bombings in 2002, which claimed more than 200 lives.

In the Philippines, he got together with Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and attacked and bombed several American interests and military bases there.

He is also high on the Philippine police's wanted list after two police officers were killed in a clash while trying to approach his hideout near Manila in August 2006.

Zulkifli, from Muar, is said to be hiding in central Mindanao where he is holed up with the Abu Sayyaf and MILF.

The father of four, who is fluent in English, Tagalog and Arabic, is an engineering wizard with a penchant for explosives and studied in the United States on a government scholarship.

Upon completing his degree in 1989, he become a mujahideen fighter where his role was to defuse Soviet bombs and land mines.

Three years later, he returned home where he found a job as a district engineer with a local council. It was then he founded KMM.

Two other family members are serving prison sentences in the United States and in Indonesia for terrorist activities.

His brother, Rahmat Abd Khir, allegedly provided Zulkifli and JI with cash and radios for the Bali bombings. Rahmat, who is two years older than Zulkifli, studied computer engineering in the US before obtaining citizenship there.

He was tracked down by US federal officers and was arrested at his office in Sunnyvale, California in 2007.

The authorities also found ammunition, sniper scopes and military training manuals in his home.

Another relative, brother-in-law Taufik Abdul Halim, is languishing in an Indonesian jail for his role in the botched bombing of the Atrium shopping mall in Jakarta in 2002.

He placed a bomb in a cardboard Dunkin' Donuts box and was carrying it into the mall when it exploded prematurely. Taufik lost a leg while six others were arrested.

The attack was against a Christian group which had an office there.

Taufik, from Kampung Jeram Masjid in Muar, was also a KMM member.

Taufik entered Indonesia illegally in 2000 and went to Ambon, the provincial capital of the Moluccas, to join a three-year-old jihad against Christians there.

Several months later, he travelled to Jakarta, where he took part in church bombings.