Kuala Lumpur: Officials say Malaysia has arrested three suspected Islamic militants believed to be linked to an Indonesian radical cleric.

Malaysian police say two Malaysians, aged 34 and 70, and an Indonesian, aged 34, were detained Wednesday in two different states.

They were arrested under the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial. The police statement says they are believed to have links with a foreign militant group.

An official familiar with the arrests said the men were believed to have worked with a terror cell in Indonesia's Aceh province that was allegedly set up by prominent radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.