DENPASAR, Indonesia - Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai promised today to help Indonesian police investigate the Bali bombing.

Norian's remarks came the day after Indonesia announced it was seeking two Malaysians the first foreign suspects in the case.

"We discussed what kind of assistance the Malaysian police can provide, and secondly, how the investigation... in Malaysia can help the investigations here," he told reporters after meeting Bali police chief Budi Setiawan at the police headquarters here.

Norian also visited Amrozi and Imam Samudra, two key suspects in the case.

Later in the day, deputy home affairs minister Zainal Abidin Zin said the two wanted Malaysians - Doctor Azhari, believed to have supplied bomb-making expertise, and Noordin Mohammad Thob, who is suspected of raising funds - were already high on Malaysia's wanted list.

"We have been looking for the two individuals for a long time and we know that they are involved in several militant groups that can threaten national security," he was quoted as saying by Malaysia's official Bernama news agency.

Interpol assistance

But Zainal said the two are believed to have fled Malaysia for neighbouring countries, adding Interpol's assistance had already been sought to track them down.

"We have said that they are dangerous and something must be done" to to catch them, he said from Kuala Lumpur.

While all 15 suspects so far arrested are Indonesians, there are Malaysian connections to the Oct 12 bombing on the resort island.

The regional terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is widely believed to have had a role in the bombing that killed more than 190 people.

JI, whose goal is to establish a fundamentalist Islamic state covering much of the region, was founded by expatriate Indonesians in Malaysia. Many JI members are in detention in Malaysia and Singapore.

New suspects

Indonesian police said yesterday they were hunting six new suspects in the Bali bombing, four Indonesians and the two Malaysians.

Police have said a Malaysian called Wan Min, in detention in that country, had passed along US$30,000 to finance the Bali blast.

Norian, without citing any names, said there were several interlinked organisations active in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

Norian met his Indonesian counterpart Da'i Bachtiar in Jakarta on Monday. He and his team of three senior Malaysian police officers were to leave Bali for home later Tuesday, police sources said. AFP