The police rounded up all but four of its most wanted terror suspects and their capture will effectively wipe out the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leadership in the country, a top security official said today.

Stung by reports that two Malaysians played major roles in bomb attacks in Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur is fighting a growing perception that the top ranks of the al-Qaeda-linked JI are full of Malaysians.

Indonesian police on Tuesday accused Malaysians Azahari Husin ( photo ) and Noordin Muhammad Top of involvement at a senior level in last year's Bali blast which killed 202 people and this month's attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12.

Azahari, a former university professor, was said to be the bomb-maker while Noordin was allegedly the overall "controller" of the Jakarta bombing.

Five in the net

A senior Malaysian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP the two men were among the last four on a most-wanted list of nine issued last year.

He named the other two as Zulkiifli Marzuki, describing him as a member of the Malaysian JI "think-tank", and Zulkifli Hir.

The five who have been captued are held either in Malaysia or Indonesia, he said.

More than 70 Islamic militants, many of them allegedly JI members, are already in detention in Malaysia and the intelligence official said the capture of the last four would wipe out the group's leadership structure.

He noted that Malaysia itself had circulated its most-wanted list to security forces of other countries in the region long before the Bali blast in October last year.

Full disclosure

The opposition DAP, however, called today for the government to present parliament with a full accounting of the Malaysian connection to JI.

Party leader Lim Kit Siang said in a statement that Malaysians were facing increasing suspicion and harrassment when they travelled to Western countries because of the perception of a terrorist link.

He noted that Azahari "is widely named" as a possible successor to JI operations chief Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand last week.

Lim Kit Siang also noted that it was reportedly the arrest in Thailand of a Malaysian, known by the alias Li-Li, which led to the capture of Indonesian national Hambali.

Li-Li and Malaysian Zubair Mohamad, who was captured in Bangkok in June, are now believed to be in US custody at a secret location along with Hambali.

Unfounded fear

The security official, however, dismissed the suggestion that Azahari or any other Malaysian might take over the operational leadership of JI.

The chief would always be an Indonesian and most likely a graduate of the Ngruki Muslim boarding school on the outskirts of Solo, where several terror suspects have studied, he said.

The school is headed by Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of JI who is on trial in Jakarta for treason.

"It all goes back to Indonesia," the official said, noting that the Malaysians involved were recruited by Hambali and Abu Bakar Bashir when the two Indonesian lived in exile in Malaysia during the rule of former Indonesian dictator Suharto. - AFP