Shirts carrying the face of Osama bin Laden, have disappeared from markets in the Indonesian garnment-producing city of Bandung as the country steps up its anti-terror efforts.

The t-shirts had been a popular item in Indonesia, world's largest Muslim-populated nation, along with those featuring former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

"I am scared now to produce Osama's picture [on t-shirts] or sell them on sidewalks ... they can become a problem because I could then be suspected of things," vendor Ate, 34, told the state Antara news agency.

Ate, who operates in the Tegallega area of Bandung – a textile and garnment producing center in West Java – said that he was worried the t-shirt would incur the wrath of authorities. But he said he still felt "secure" selling Saddam t-shirts.

Billy, a t-shirt producer, told Antara he was now afraid to make the bin Laden shirts "The faces of known figures are hard sellers but now we are thinking twice about [reproducing] Osama's picture, because we fear something may happen," he said without elaborating.

The Indonesian government has vowed to step up its battle against terrorists who it has blames for a series of bombings in the past years, including in Bali on October 12, 2002 and in Jakarta on August 5.

A total of 202 people were killed in the Bali blast while in Jakarta the bombing of a US-run hotel left 12 people killed and more than 140 injured. Police have indicated that the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terrorist network may be behind the bombings.