Malaysian-born Noordin is suspected of orchestrating the Bali bombings of 2002 and other major attacks.

In a separate operation, police said they had killed two militants preparing to attack the home of the president.

Police chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Danuri said officers had seized bombs, and a car rigged to carry them, three miles (5km) from the residence of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Body found

Following the storming of the house in the Temanggung district of central Java, a body was removed but police did not confirm media reports that it was that of Noordin.

Gen Danuri said: "We are not saying yet who was killed. We have to conduct DNA tests first.

"We have to wait for the laboratory tests and the forensics, so we won't be saying anything yet."

He confirmed, however, that only one person had been killed in the operation, despite earlier reports that more bodies had been taken from the house.

Police said they had surrounded the house following the arrest on Friday of several suspected militants loyal to Noordin.

After a long siege, members of Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism unit entered the remote house at 0945 (0245 GMT) on Saturday by blowing in one of the doors.

Several minutes later, after further explosions and exchanges of gunfire, officers were seen leaving with their helmets off and shaking hands with each other.

Noordin - one of south-east Asia's most wanted terror suspects - is believed to have been involved in all the major attacks carried out in Indonesia, including the bombings of two Jakarta hotels last month that killed nine people and injured scores of others.

He is accused of being the key recruiter and financier for the regional Islamist militant group Jemaah Islamiah, but is believed to have later formed his own hard-line breakaway group.