Jakarta – Indonesia's Attorney General's Office said on Tuesday it had formally asked the country's central bank to freeze assets of 28 companies and groups suspected of having links to terror activities.

"We have sent a letter [asking] Bank Indonesia to freeze assets and accounts of companies and groups suspected of having linked with international terrorism," Attorney General's Office spokesman Mulyohardjo told Reuters.

He said the moves were taken in response to a request by the foreign ministry following the UN resolution on freezing assets allegedly belonging to terrorist groups.

Mulyohardjo refused to disclose the names of the 28 companies and groups, saying they were not necessarily located in Indonesia and confidentiality was needed for the sake of the investigation. "The UN gave us the 28 names they said that, based on their investigation, [were] linked to Osama bin Laden's activities," Mulyohardjo said.

Indonesian security officials had earlier said there was no evidence anyone linked to Washington's prime suspect for the September 11 attacks on the United States, Saudi-born bin Laden, was based in the archipelago.

The world's most populous Muslim country has backed Washington's war on terrorism, but the government is in a delicate position over US-led air strikes on Islamic Afghanistan. President Megawati Sukarnoputri has expressed veiled condemnation of the strikes.