JAKARTA, INDONESIA - A SUSPECTED Islamic militant believed to head a Singapore cell of regional network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) may be hiding in Indonesia, where he could blend in more easily, Indonesia's police chief said.

Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from a Singapore detention centre in February, where he was being held for allegedly plotting to crash a plane into Singapore's airport.

Singapore officials have previously expressed concern Mas Selamat might try to hook up again with the JI network, blamed for the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali that killed 202 people.

He added that language and cultural similarities meant the fugitive would be able to blend in more easily.

'If he moved to Europe he would be caught,' he added.

Mas Selamat's escape embarrassed Singapore authorities and sparked a massive manhunt on the island which saw Nepali Gurkhas combing forests and a global security alert from Interpol.

Mr Sutanto said police were still investigating a network of suspected militants detained recently in Palembang on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

The group of 10 were detained in raids by Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit and a large cache of bombs was found.

The raids followed the capture of a suspected militant, who police said was a bomb-making expert linked to Mas Selamat, after a tip-off by authorities in Singapore.

Police said the group was suspected of being involved in plans to bomb a cafe in Bukittinggi, a popular tourist resort in West Sumatra.

JI, which wants to create an Islamic caliphate in South-east Asia, carried out a string of deadly attacks in recent years in Indonesia.

But there have been no major attacks for more than two years and a series of raids, often involving Detachment 88, a police unit funded and trained by the United States and Australia, have led to the arrest of hundreds of militant suspects.