Jakarta - The head of Indonesia's anti-corruption watchdog was named a suspect Friday in a murder case, dealing a blow to the agency and posing a potential disruption in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's bid for re-election.

Antasari Azhar, the head of the Corruption Eradication Commission, is one of the suspects in the March 14 murder of businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen, the attorney general's office said.

The office also requested a travel ban against Azhar to prevent him from leaving the country.

Jasman Panjaitan, an attorney general's office spokesman, called Azhar one of the masterminds in the murder.

Local media reported earlier that two gunmen fatally shot Zulkarnaen, a director of the state-owned pharmaceutical firm Putra Rajawali Banjaran, inside his car after he had finished playing golf in Tangerang, a town west of Jakarta.

Azhar late Thursday denied involvement in the case, media reports said.

His commission, which begun operations in 2003, has been at the forefront of Yudhoyono's campaign to crack down on corruption. A number of high-profile politicians, central bankers and government officials have been charged and imprisoned as a result of its investigations.

Experts have said Azhar's status as a suspect was a blow to Yudhoyono, a reform-minded formed army general who is seeking re-election in the July presidential polls.

Presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng said the government "fully supported" the police to uphold the law and bring anyone to justice for their alleged involvement in criminal cases. (dpa)