An Indonesian court imposed an 18-year jail sentence on a man who supplied Islamic militants with the explosives used in a McDonald's restaurant bombing.

Arman, alias Galaxi, was found guilty on Monday of assisting the bombing at Makassar in South Sulawesi on December 5, 2002 and of illegal possession of firearms.

The Makassar district court found that Arman had brought the explosives from the restive Poso district in neighbouring Central Sulawesi and had helped to survey prospective targets, prosecutor Arifin Hamid told AFP by phone.

Prosecutors had recommended a 20-year jail sentence for Arman. Arman is appealing the verdict and sentence, the heaviest so far in a series of Makassar bombing trials.

Three people including the attacker were killed in the Makassar bombing of the McDonald's. Another blast damaged a car showroom shortly afterwards but caused no casualties. Several men have been jailed for their role but key suspect Agung Abdul Hamid is still at large.

Police have said some suspects in the Makassar bombings knew those behind the Bali blasts on October 12 last year which killed 202 people. Investigators have blamed the Bali attack on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al Qaeda-linked regional terror network.