Jakarta bomb suspects shot dead

Police carry away one of the bodies following the hour-long shootout

Police have killed two Indonesian militants who were believed to have played a role in hotel bombings in Jakarta on 17 July.

Saifuddin Zuhri bin Djaelani Irsyad and his brother Mohamad Syahrir were reportedly killed in a shoot-out in Ciputat in the south of the capital.

Saifuddin was suspected of recruiting the suicide bombers who attacked the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels.

Two others were arrested alive after the raid, AFP news agency reported.

A witness reported hearing gunfire and an explosion during the raid and that it was quickly over, the agency added.

'Rented house'

At a news conference, national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said: "Two suspects were caught and shot at the site because they used a bomb to attack our officers."

He added that several more small pipe bombs had been found in the house and that the raid was the result of a tip-off that morning.

He said that forensic tests to confirm the identity of the dead men were under way with the results expected on Monday.

Earlier, Indonesia's police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri confirmed details of the raid, which took place on a rented house near to Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University.

When asked if Saifuddin, who was also known as Saifuddin Djaelani, had been killed, he told reporters: "Inshallah (God willing)."

Both men were believed to be associates of Noordin Mohammad Top - who was shot dead during a raid last month by Indonesian police.

Police say the suspects threw a pipe bomb at officers

Noordin was thought to be a key recruiter and financier for the regional Islamist militant group, Jemaah Islamiah, but then formed his own more hardline splinter group.

Officials believe the former accountant orchestrated a series of attacks across Indonesia, including a previous one on the Jakarta Marriott.

In August, the think tank International Crisis Group described Saifuddin and his brother - who once worked as a technician for the national airline Garuda Indonesia - as "well connected lieutenants".

The organisation's south-east Asia director, Jim Della-Giacoma, told AP: "If it's true, Noordin's network has been decapitated, or really effectively reduced.

"The problem is we don't know how big the network was or if there were future plans or other cells.

"When suspects are killed you lose the opportunity to connect the dots and follow those.

"It's a shame they couldn't get these guys alive."