The brother of slain master bomber Azahari Husin has seen the body and confirmed it to be that of his brother, and plans to fly it to Malaysia for burial on Thursday, an Indonesian police officer said.

"It was concluded by the representative of Dr Azahari's family, who said that the body is really that of Dr. Azahari," National Police Deputy Spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto told journalists.

Bani Yamin Husin, who was allowed to see the body at the hospital's forensic department under tight police escort, declined comment before entering and after coming out of the room.

Islamic burial

Ardanto said the body would be flown out on Thursday. Azahari's family has asked for help from police to make sure the body is treated in line with Islamic burial custom.

Azahari and his fellow Malaysian bomb expert Noordin Mohammed Top, both members of the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamyah extremist network, have been blamed by authorities for orchestrating the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, as well as for last month's attacks.

They were also blamed for a series of other bombing attacks in Jakarta.

Azahari and one of his acolytes were killed during a police raid on their hideout in the hill resort town of Batu in East Java on November 9.