Sabah police have arrested two Islamic militants believed to be members of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror network and are hunting for more suspects, a security official said today.

The two, both religious teachers detained yesterday, are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) which allows indefinite detention without trial, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We have launched a clean-up operation to nab other suspects. We fear they may flee into southern Philippines which they may conside a safe hideout," he said.

It would take just takes minutes for a fugitive on a speedboat to escape from Sabah into the islands of the Muslim-dominated southern Philippines.

"We have informed our security counterparts in the Philippines. We are sharing intelligence to nab them," the official said.

Wiping clear

The arrests are the first sign of a JI presence on Borneo island, which is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The group's aim is to establish a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.

"We want to wipe clear the JI group. We won't rest until it is completed," the official said.

JI has links to the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden, and has been blamed for the Bali bombing on Oct 12 which killed more than 190 people.

A daily today said the two religious teachers - one Malaysian and an Indonesian with a local permanent resident status - were arrested in Sandakan, Sabah.

Warfare training

The Star described the duo as "middlemen" who provided accommodation and transport for JI members to travel to Mindanao in the southern Philippines via the porous maritime border for guerilla warfare training.

The Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been fighting to set up a separate Islamic state in the southern Philippines but signed a ceasefire with the government last year to open peace negotiations.

Police are looking for eight other Muslim suspects, it added.

Malaysia has detained more than 70 alleged Islamic militants since the middle of last year under the ISA. AFP