Police have detained seven people linked to an attack against Shi'ite Muslims at the Sampang district in Madura Island, East Java Province, on Sunday.

Two Shi'ite followers were reportedly killed and scores of others were injured in the incident at the Omben sub-district.

"As of now, seven people have been detained as suspects. Only at a later stage was the mastermind, 'R', picked up...and there are three others who have yet to be detained," national police chief General Timur Pradopo was quoted as saying by Indonesian news agency Antara in Jakarta today.

Timur said the police had deployed more officers in Sampang, with the assistance of the Indonesian Defence Forces (TNI).

A number of Shi'ite Muslims fled their villages after a mob of Islamic hardliners attacked them and set their houses on fire in Nangkernang, Karanggayam village, Omben sub-district, Sampang.

Meanwhile, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in a statement to the media today, criticised the local intelligence office in Sampang for failing to anticipate the incident.

Similar to attack last December

He said a similar incident had occurred last December and the latest attack should have been anticipated. Susilo urged the local authorities to help resolve the problems in Sampang.

Currently, about 50 refugees, comprising women and children from Omben, have been accommodated at the Wijaya Kusuma Sport Hall in Sampang on East Java`s Madura Island, following the Sunday attack.

The attack against the Shiite Muslims in Nanggernang, Karanggayam village,

Omben sub-district, Sampang, was the second in the past two years.

In December, last year, an anti-Shi'ite group attacked a Shi'ite mosque, an Islamic boarding school and a house belonging to a local Shi'ite leader.

More than 200 Shi'ite followers were moved to safer places, and a joint team of police and military officers was set up to help mediate the conflict.

- Bernama