JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian police have arrested a suspected would-be suicide bomber linked to the Malaysian terror mastermind believed to be behind last week's attacks in Jakarta, reports said Thursday.

The man had confessed to being groomed as a suicide bomber by Noordin Mohammed Top, Central Java police chief Alex Bambang Riatmodjo was quoted as saying by state-run news agency Antara.

"Based on the explanation we've received, this person has admitted that they were recruited by Noordin M. Top to become the perpetrator of a suicide bomb," Riatmodjo said.

"Apart from that, we can't convey yet what location would have been the target of this man. What is clear is that he has admitted to all accusations."

The man had been taken to police headquarters in Jakarta for questioning.

News website Detikcom said the man, who was arrested in Cilacap district of Central Java province, had been groomed as a suicide bomber since 2001 and was to be used in the Noordin network's next strike.

The Malaysian-born Noordin is seen by police as the most likely mastermind of the July 17 attacks, which killed at least nine people including two suicide bombers at Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels.

Noordin leads a radical splinter faction of the regional Jemaah Islamiyah movement, which has been blamed for a series of attacks including 2002 and 2005 bombings on Bali island that killed over 200 people, mostly foreigners.

Police say they found a bomb identical to those used in the Jakarta blasts in a raid earlier this month on a suspected Noordin hideout in Cilacap.

And on Wednesday a woman believed to be his third wife was detained in the same district.

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