JAKARTA - A suspect in the August suicide bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta has identified fugitive Malaysian explosive expert Azahari Husin as the mastermind behind the blast, a report said today.

Tohir, testifying at the trial of another man in Sumatra's Bengkulu province, said Azahari and his fugitive countryman, Noordin Mohammad Top, determined that American assets in Indonesia should be bombed, the private SCTV television reported from Bengkulu.

Court officials could not be reached for confirmation.

The August 5 Marriott bombing killed 11 Indonesians and a Dutch banker.

Police are looking for Azahari and Noordin for their alleged roles in the bombing as well as the October 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Detectives blamed the attacks on the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network, of which Azahari and Noordin are reportedly members.

After Azahari and Noordin escaped a police raid in September, detectives said the fugitives were armed with explosives and believed to still be in Indonesia.

Tohir was testifying at the trial of a man identified by SCTV as Sardono Siliwangi.

The witness confessed to bringing explosives hidden in Sardono's house, and to surveying the target, SCTV said.

Two others implicated

In his testimony he also implicated two other men, Ismail and Asmar Latin Sani. Sani drove the van bomb to the Marriott and died in the blast, he said. Ismail is currently in custody.

Tohir also said he was following the call of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, SCTV reported.

He and Ismail were arrested at Cirebon in West Java in late October. Police said they had bombs with them which they were ready to detonate in a bid to avoid capture.

Tempo news magazine has quoted the pair as saying they helped Azahari and Noordin assemble the Marriott bomb.

During a police recreation of the Marriott bombing in December, Tohir said he surveyed the hotel "four or five times."

Ismail said then that the main target of the attack had been Americans. - AFP