Jakarta – Four Indonesians arrested last week have been named suspects under anti-terrorism laws in October's restaurant bombings on Bali island and for hiding a key militant, police said on Friday.

"These four people are believed to have been involved in the 2005 Bali bombings. They also helped hide Noordin M. Top during and after the bombings," deputy national police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam said.

Police have been conducting a nationwide manhunt for Malaysian Top, a senior member of Jemaah Islamiah, a shadowy militant group seen as the Southeast Asian arm of al Qaeda.

Top is blamed for helping mastermind a series of bombings in Indonesia in recent years, including one on three restaurants in Bali in October by suicide bombers that killed 20 people.

The four men were arrested in Central Java province last week. It was unclear when they would face trial.

Asked about the Wednesday detention of a close aide to Top, Alam said the man was still being interrogated and had not been declared a suspect.

Top worked closely in Indonesia with fellow Malaysian Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in a police raid on his East Java hideout in November. Azahari was seen as Jemaah Islamiah's top bombing expert.

Police say they almost caught Top hours before the November raid and he is thought to be still in Indonesia.

Police say Top is an expert in recruiting young suicide bombers among Indonesia's impoverished masses.

Since the October 2002 nightclub bombings on Bali, which killed 202 people, Indonesian police have arrested hundreds of militants and convicted scores on terror charges.