Two men face terror probe in Indonesia's East Java

JAKARTA, Mar 7 (Reuters) Two Indonesian men are being interrogated in East Java province over allegations of helping wanted terrorist masterminds in their activities, a police officer said today.

Deputy national police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam said officers caught Arif Hermansyah and Ahmad Basyir Umar on Friday and would decide their status soon.

The two had close links to Noordin M Top and his slain partner Azahari Husin, leading operatives of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah militant group, Alam said.

''These arrested two are old players. We have seven days from the date of arrest before we decide whether they could be suspects,'' he said, adding both were arrested in the East Java city of Surabaya.

''We believe Arif gave (explosives) to Noordin M. Top prior to the Kuningan bombing,'' Alam said, referring to the 2004 bomb attack near the Australian embassy, located in Jakarta's busy Kuningan district.

Alam added police believe Umar hid Top and Azahari before the latter was killed during a police raid last year in the East Java retreat area of Batu.

Top, whom authorities believe is an expert in recruiting young suicide bombers among Indonesia's poor, has become Southeast Asia's most wanted Islamic militant since the death of Azahari, Jemaah Islamiah's alleged chief bombmaker.

Police believe Top is still on Java, Indonesia's main island.

Indonesian authorities have blamed Jemaah Islamiah for a number of major bombings against Western targets in recent years in the world's most populous Muslim country.

Top and Azahari, both hailing from Malaysia, have been key players in most of the attacks, police say.

A number of junior militants linked to Top have been arrested in the past couple of months, but Indonesian officials and Western governments say Top and his followers are still a threat, despite the arrests and the killing of Azahari.

REUTERS VJ PM0758