Indonesian police detain couple

Police have issued photographs of the Jakarta bombing suspects

Indonesian police hunting the group who carried out last week's bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta have detained two people.

The couple - a man whom police have named as Rahmatullah and his wife - were detained on Wednesday night near Surabaya city, on the island of Java.

Three others fled the scene, a police spokesman told French news agency AFP.

It was not immediately clear if those detained or those who fled were involved in the bombing.

According to the Associated Press news agency, detectives were tipped off by neighbours.

The couple are said to have rented their house to three suspected militants, who fled when police stormed the building on Wednesday.

Police spokesman Endro Wardoyo told AFP that the suspects had attempted to dispose of some documents in a well, but he added that the evidence has since been recovered.

Police hunting the Jakarta bombers have named Malaysian bomb expert Azahari Husin and his associate Noordin Mohamad Top as prime suspects.

Both men are thought to have links to the South East Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah.

On Wednesday, Indonesian police published pictures of eight suspects believed to have been recruited by Azahari and Top.

Four of the suspects are have been on the police's most wanted list for almost two years, but the other four are believed to be new recruits.

Police are offering 500 million rupiah (about US$50,000) for information leading to the arrest of each suspect, and double that amount for Azahari and Top.

Meanwhile an Indonesian court sentenced another militant to 12 years in jail on Thursday, after he was found guilty of involvement in last year's JW Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta.

Ismail, also known as Mohammad Ikhwan, is the 16th person to be convicted in connection with the attack, which killed 12 people in August last year.

He was found guilty of terrorism and the illegal possession of explosives.