Farouk Arnaz – The specter of an active Islamic terror campaign in Indonesia resurfaced on Thursday as police revealed that two suspects seized hours after a deadly attack on a police post were believed to be part of the Jemaah Islamiyah network.

The two were arrested on Wednesday evening, just hours after four men on motorcycles attacked a police post in Palu, Central Sulawesi. Two men sprayed the post with bullets, killing two officers and wounding a third.

Central Sulawesi Police Chief Brig. Gen. Dewa Parsana did not provide the full identities of the two suspects but said they were found to have links to Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terrorist network blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people and a string of other bomb attacks in the country.

The pair were found with three weapons, Dewa told a news conference on Thursday afternoon. "We seized their motorcycle and three long-barreled firearms," he said. "They are the main perpetrators.

"It is now confirmed that their motive was terrorism when they attacked our officers, whom they consider infidels. They have ties to Jemaah Islamiyah." He added that the police were now "pursuing their network."

Dewa did not provide details on the links between the two detained suspects and the regional terrorist network. However, Palu and other areas of Central Sulawesi were the scene of intense sectarian violence between 2001-02, when Muslims and Christians fought each other, leaving some 1,000 people dead.

Sporadic violence has continued to flare up in the area despite a negotiated truce in 2002. The province, especially the districts of Palu and Poso, is still believed to be home to Muslim militants and hard-liners, including members of Jemaah Islamiyah.

In Wednesday's attack, four men on two motorcycles, their faces hidden behind full helmets, parked near a police post next to a bank office in Palu late in the morning. Two men dismounted and riddled the post with bullets before fleeing the scene. Two policemen inside the post died of gunshot wounds. A third officer was shot in the thigh but survived.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said the three firearms seized from the two arrested suspects were an Enfield Jungle Carbine, an M16 automatic rifle and a V2 assault rifle that had belonged to one of the two slain officers. "We seized these weapons, along with a magazine containing 25 rounds," he said.

Boy said the two suspects, who were identified only as H., 26, and F., 23, were arrested after they later shot at police officers manning a roadblock in southern Palu. Two other suspects, who were believed to be with them, managed to escape. Police have not said whether they have identified the two suspects still on the run.