Murder suspect held in Mauritania

Three people have died in shootouts during the search for the suspects

Mauritanian police say they have arrested a man accused of killing four French tourists, who was on the run in the capital dressed as a woman.

Marouf Ould Haiba is one of four alleged al-Qaeda militants accused of shooting the tourists as they ate a picnic in south Mauritania in December.

Fellow suspect Sidi Ould Sidna escaped from police in the capital, Nouakchott, as he was due to go on trial last week.

The getaway sparked a manhunt leading to two deadly shootouts in the city.

Mr Haiba is being questioned by police after being caught in the capital dressed in the black robes worn by some strict Muslim women that hide the entire body apart from the eyes.

"He was disguised as a woman and was carrying a weapon under his dress," Hindou Mint Hainina, a government spokesman, told Reuters new agency.

"He had been trailed by the police for several days and is currently being questioned in Nouakchott's central police station."

Dakar Rally cancelled

Correspondents say the arrest has come at a good time for Mauritanian officials, who are already under intense pressure after Mr Sidna disappeared from a courthouse, apparently after being left alone for a few minutes.

His escape prompted a deadly manhunt. On Monday a policeman and a suspected militant died in a shootout during the search, and another man was accidentally killed on Wednesday when police opened fire on a house they had surrounded.

A reward has been offered for any information that leads to the fugitive's arrest.

Mr Sidna had been extradited from Guinea-Bissau, where he was arrested with fellow suspect Ould Sidi Chabarnou in January.

The two men had previously been arrested in connection with an al-Qaeda linked group, police said.

December's tourist killings dealt a severe blow to Mauritania's tourism industry, correspondents say, as they led to the cancellation of the prestigious trans-Saharan Dakar motor rally - which had been due to pass through Mauritania in January.