'Mass killer confesses' in Yemen

Sixteen women are said to have been killed at Sana'a university

A Sudanese medical assistant arrested on suspicion of raping and murdering up to 16 women in Yemen, is reported to have confessed to killing 11 other women in Sudan.

Mohammed Adam Omar worked in the morgue at the university in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a.

The 45-year-old suspect was arrested on Friday. Yemeni investigators have been sent to Jordan, Kuwait and Sudan.

About 300 students demonstrated outside Sana'a University demanding the government's resignation over the case. Students earlier staged sit-ins demanding swift action against the Sudanese suspect.

Partial 'confession'

Reports quote Yemeni police officials as saying that Mr Omar had admitted to killing 11 women Omdurman, in Sudan.

He has not confessed to killing 16 women in Yemen since 1996, for which he was arrested.

According to reports, Mr Omar has lived in Kuwait and Jordan, and was expelled from both countries. He is also believed to have lived in Israel, where he served a prison term for an unspecified crime.

Police said Mr Omar had tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists with glass from his spectacles, but was overpowered by officers.

Sana'a University said in a statement on Tuesday evening that it had only been contacted by two families about the disappearance of two students. The university had fired Mr Omar in February for corruption.

Yemen's parliament on Tuesday announced the formation of a commission to investigate the killings.

Macabre details

Only two of the bodies of his alleged victims have been discovered so far - one an Iraqi, the other a Yemeni student. Both were found hidden in the university morgue.

Mr Omar is believed to have smuggled and sold body parts from his victims abroad for experimentation and transplants.

He is also believed to have used the bodies of his victims during autopsy lessons he conducted at the university.

Police are reported to be searching for three other individuals who are close associates of Mr Omar and are suspected of being involved in the smuggling of body parts.