Frenchman held over missing women

The missing women worked as prostitutes on the streets of Marseille

Police in France have detained a man in the southern city of Marseille after the disappearance of three foreign prostitutes in the space of a month.

A search is on for the three women, two of whom ex-convict Patrick Salameh, 51, is suspected of abducting and holding in a flat, officials say.

He is also suspected of involvement in the disappearance of a third woman.

A fourth woman, whom he is suspected of abducting and raping, was released and has given evidence to French police.

Two of the missing women are a Ukrainian aged 42, and an Algerian aged 28.

Investigators found the DNA of at least one woman and other evidence in a flat in the city's Saint-Mitre district used by the suspect, who is refusing to speak to police.

The third missing woman is a 23-year-old Romanian and the alleged rape victim is a Moroccan, aged 24.

'Deeply troubling'

Police spokesman Roland Gauze said the priority was finding the missing women.

"We shall see if we find bodies or living persons," he told reporters, describing their disappearance as "deeply troubling".

Mr Salameh was arrested on 12 November following descriptions given by the Moroccan woman and another man questioned during investigations into the disappearance of the women, the French news agency AFP reports.

The Ukrainian woman vanished on the night of 5-6 October on the boulevards of the city centre. The Algerian disappeared on 7-8 November on her way to meet a client.

The missing Romanian has not been seen since 22 October.

The Moroccan woman told investigators she had seen a woman's body in the bathroom of the flat, Marseille prosecutor Jacques Dallest said, adding that her account may have been a "fabrication under the influence of fear".

Psychiatric help

Patrick Salameh served 16 years for armed robbery in a Marseille prison and was released on parole in July 2005.

Originally from the Var region of southern France, he taught himself to paint in prison and was described by Mr Gauze as a "cerebral type" and "an intelligent man living with his partner and children".

Some of his paintings were exhibited publicly and a November 2005 description of his work, posted on the website of one French arts association, talks of his themes being "confinement, escape and woman".

His lawyer, Jean-Jacques Campana, said his client was "exercising his right to silence while becoming acquainted with the case against him".

He added that a psychiatrist had been monitoring Mr Salameh for the past two and a half years at his own request.