The health of the most wanted man in the country, alleged terrorist Noordin M Top, is deteriorating due to liver disease, according to police sources.

A number of detectives, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said police had traced Noordin's hideout and the clinic where he received treatment in Tuban, East Java, but Noordin dodged arrest.

"The doctor treating him confirmed that Noordin is suffering from liver disease," said one of the sources Monday.

Police intensified security in East Java after tracing the whereabouts of Noordin in Tuban, 100 kilometers from Surabaya, and especially following reports Mas Selamat Kastari, a key figure in regional terror group Jamaah Islamiyah who escaped police detention in Singapore, has sought refuge in the province.

"We believe Kastari would not be far from where Noordin is, but we are focusing more on Noordin because Kastari is wanted by the Singaporean police," said the source.

Besides his close ties with Noordin, Kastari is also close to a number of JI figures and suspects involved in bomb attacks in Indonesia. These include Yazid, a JI member who received military training in Afghanistan, Indonesian JI figure Said Sungkar, Mukhlas, alias Ali Ghufron, and Abu Dujana.

Mukhlas and Abu Dujana previously helped Kastari provide for Mashadi, 16, Kastari's eldest son who studied at the Al Mutaqqin Islamic boarding school in Sowan village in Jepara, Central Java.

Another source said Mashadi is still studying at the school from which Dzulkarnain, alias Uztad Daud Abu Rusdan, JI chief of army, graduated.

School spokesman Hasyim As'ari denied the charge.

"My students, totaling 900 or so, are mostly orphans and come from poor families outside Java. There is no problems with their identities," said Hasyim.

A motorcycle repair workshop owner on Jl. Pattimura in Malang, East Java, Bambang Haryono, 43, who had previously employed Kastari at his workshop, said he had no special relationship with Kastari, who called himself Salim.

"I didn't even know he was a fugitive being pursued by the Singaporean police. At the time, I was helping him find a job and during his stint at my place, he only received meals for his work," Bambang told The Jakarta Post.

Bambang said he and Kastari became acquainted at the Sudirman Mosque in Malang. After serving nine months at Medaeng prison, Kastari was recommended by Jauhari Ibrahim to stay at the mosque for two months. Jauhari is a member of the Wakalah Umar movement in Singapore and attended military training with Kastari in Afghanistan for 20 days in 1993.

"Kastari didn't say much about his background. He was keen on speaking about automotive matters in his Malay accent because he used to work in a workshop in Singapore," said Bambang.

Kastari was arrested at Baitul Ghaffar Mosque in the Bumi Asri housing complex in Malang by police from the police's anti-terror unit Jan. 19, 2006, two months after fugitive Azahari was killed when police raided his hideout in Batu, Malang, East Java, on Nov. 9, 2005.

Azahari's hideout was only 10 km from where Kastari was arrested.

After his arrest, Kastari was taken to Singapore and detained at the Whitley Road Detention Center.

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