'Confession' in Peake murder

Isabel Peake was thrown from a train

A man has reportedly told a French magazine that he is responsible for the deaths of the British student, Isabel Peake, and two other women.

Sid Ahmed Rezala's admission of guilt is reported in the French weekly "Le Figaro-Magazine".

Rezala is said to have experienced a sudden "flash" in his head before the killings.

The body of 20-year-old Isabel Peake was found beside a railway track in central France late last year.

She was going back to her home in Staffordshire when it is believed she was pushed from a speeding overnight train.

Europe-wide search

Sid Ahmed Rezala on his arrest in Portugal

Algerian-born Rezala, who is 21, was arrested in the Portugese capital Lisbon after police launched a search across Europe.

In "Le Figaro-Magazine", Rezala describes his encounter with Isabel Peake.

He said: "She was very gentle. We got on well at the station in Limoges. She telephoned her boyfriend. Then I had the flash again."

Authorities in France are also linking Rezala to the deaths of Corinne Caillaux - a mother of two who was stabbed on a sleeper train near Dijon - and of sociology student Emilie Bazin.

She was 20 years old, and found strangled in a house in Amiens.

'Regret' for the killings

The magazine claims that Rezala told reporters from his prison hospital that he regretted the pain he had caused the families of the dead women.

God help the families and may He send me misery

Sid Ahmed Rezala

Speaking of the deaths of Isabel Peake and Emilie Bazin, he said he had seen a "flash" and had then killed the students as if he were "carrying out an order".

He added: "God help the families. And may He send me misery."

Rezala is fighting attempts by France to extradite him from Portugal to stand trial.

The Portugese Supreme Court is due to give its decision on the extradition request next Wednesday.