Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist Noordin Mohammad Top is unlikely to have fled Indonesia, its police chief said.

"There's a possibility he is still in Indonesia. He is unlikely to have fled because of the cooperation among Asean countries. There's no sign he has left," General Sutanto told reporters at a gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' top police officers yesterday.

Malaysian-born Noordin, and compatriot Azahari Husin were formerly senior leaders of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah regional network. They were accused of involvement in a series of deadly bombings in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali blasts that killed 202 people.

Hunt to continue

While Azahari was killed during a police raid last November, Noordin has several times narrowly escaped arrest - most recently on April 29 when police hunting for him raided a house in Central Java and killed two militants.

Sutanto vowed Indonesia would continue hunting Noordin and would further interrogate his supporters.

"Definitely we will not feel at peace until he is caught," Sutanto said.

Police chiefs from the ten-member Asean and seven observer countries, including senior officials from Interpol, Australia and New Zealand, are attending the four-day conference.