Indonesia will return the body of slain terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top to Malaysia, police said today, as the focus shifted to the hunt for surviving militants from his network.

"The Malaysian government and Noordin Mohammed Top's family have requested his body so he can be buried in Malaysia. We will give him back to them," national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told AFP .

"We will complete his DNA test today and hand the body over to the foreign ministry which will arrange to return it to Malaysia," he said.

NONE Noordin, a 41-year-old Malaysian who led a violent splinter faction of the Jemaah Islamiyah radical network, was killed along with three other militants at the bloody end of a nine-hour siege in a village in central Java on Thursday.

"We wanted so much to catch Noordin alive but there was a firefight. We asked them to surrender but they refused. In fact, they started to shoot at us first," Soekarna said.

Soekarna said the back of Noordin's head was shattered by an "explosion" as police breached a wall in the rented house in which he had holed up with fellow fighters.

Noordin was also shot in the side of his body and leg, he said.

With Noordin dead, Soekarna said police were concentrating their efforts on the search for followers still on the run including Syaifudin Jaelani, a recruitment expert, and Mohamed Syahrir, a former technician for national airline Garuda Indonesia.

"Police will continue our efforts to hunt down other fugitives. There are still many on our wanted list, people like Mohamad Syahrir and Syaifudin. We'll continue to chase them," he said.

Ketut Untung Yoga Ana, another police spokesman, said intelligence officers were on alert for possible retaliatory attacks as the country prepares to celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holidays marking the end of Ramadan next week.

"We can't read their minds... there may be retaliation. We're on the alert even when there are no incidents," Ana said.

Family long anticipated his death

Noordin's family in Johor, where he had a first wife and three children aged 10, nine and eight, said they had long anticipated his death.

"We were always prepared for such an outcome especially after the last time when he was suspected to have been killed," father-in-law Rudi Hamid, 67, told the Star daily, referring to earlier Indonesian attempts to track him down.

"We will live our lives normally as it has been a long time since he has lived with us."

"Even after eight years, my daughter still wishes for him to be buried here now that it is confirmed that he was killed," he added.

The death of Noordin brings to an end a six-year manhunt for a man who led an organisation he once labelled "Al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago" blamed for a string of deadly attacks.

Noordin is believed to have masterminded the meticulously planned double suicide bombing of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in July, in which seven people were killed.

He is also said to have been behind a 2003 attack on the Marriott that killed 12 people, as well as the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta and 2005 attacks on tourist restaurants on the holiday island of Bali.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein expressed regret over Noordin's death.

"What he did was wrong. We don't condone what he did. I am sad that we did not get to rehabilitate him, like we have done with many others, including Jemaah Islamiyah militants," the minister said according to the Star.

"I am sad because a life is a life," he said.

A day after his death, Islamists online have already begun building up Noordin as a legend of jihad, or holy war.

The Muslim Daily website linked to radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir carried photos of the muddy, debris strewn bodies of all four militants killed yesterday, with captions describing them as "martyrs, God willing".

Brothers to claim body

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Noordin’s body is expected to be brought back to Malaysia next week for burial in his family's village in Pontian.

According to a source, Indonesia needed between four to five days more to examine Noordin's body before handing it over to Malaysia and his family.

"Two of Noordin's family members, probably his elder brother known as 'Yahya' and his younger brother known as 'Isa' will go to Jakarta next week with Malaysian police officers to identify and claim the body.

"Noordin's wife who lives in Kampung Sungai Tiram, Johor Bahru will not go to Jakarta to claim the body," the source told Bernama in an interview today.

According to Bernama, Noordin's family house today in Kampung Kayu Ara Pasong, Pontian was found to be uninhabited.