JAKARTA - A witness in the trial of a man accused of involvement in last year's hotel bombing in the Indonesian capital said today the defendant and a wanted Malaysian bomb expert had collected three sacks of a powdery substance from his house.

Suprapto said he was asked by a baker friend called Purwadi to keep the three sacks at his house some time in November 2002.

He said he thought it was material for making bread.

Suprapto said the following week the defendant, Muhammad Rais, and another person came to his house to collect the sacks.

"Later I found out that the person who was with Rais was Dr Azahari (Husin)," Suprapto said.

University professor

Azahari, a former Malaysian university professor, is wanted for his alleged role in the Bali bombings and the bombing at the JW Marriott hotel which killed 12 people in August last year.

Rais is on trial for the Marriott attack, which like the Bali attack is blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group.

Rais is accused of introducing the suicide bomber Asmar Latin Sani to Azahari and to another Malaysian terror suspect, Noordin Mohammad Top.

He is also accused of collecting explosive material from another suspect for later use in the Marriott blast.

Rais' trial resumes on Monday.