The Philippine military on Thursday confirmed the presence of a Malaysian terrorist in the restive southern Philippines.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang told Xinhua by phone that Zulkifli Bin Hir, also known as "Marwan", was monitored in the western part of Mindanao region.

"He (Zulkifli Bin Hir) is hiding in the south but it hard for our men to track him because they are highly mobile," said Cabangbang.

Zulkifli Bin Hir, who has a 5-million dollar bounty for his arrest over his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia that left 110 foreigners dead, has joined with local terrorist group the Abu Sayyaf, military intelligence showed.

The Abu Sayyaf, active in southern Philippines, was founded in the 1990s and has perpetrated a number of high-profile attacks, including kidnapping, bombing and beheading. The Philippine military estimates the Abu Sayyaf, which has links with external terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, currently has about 400 members.

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