JAKARTA - POLICE found and detonated a suspected bomb hidden at a shopping area in Indonesia's fragile Central Sulawesi province, reports said on Tuesday.

The device, complete with wires, batteries and a mobile phone detonator, was found just after midnight by members of the public in the provincial capital Palu, state news agency Antara reported.

It could have been intended to cause bloodshed at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, police commissioner Bonar Sitinjak was quoted as saying.

'We're not indicating yet who the perpetrators are, but we will keep investigating based on information from the public,' Mr Sitinjak said.

The Jakarta Post said children had found the device under a vendor's cart and had played with it for some time until adults realised its potential threat and called the police.

Central Sulawesi, especially Palu, Poso and its surrounding district, has seen occasional flareups of unrest since violence between Muslims and Christians claimed around 1,000 lives in 2000 and 2001.

A government-brokered peace deal came into force in December 2001. -- AFP