Fourth Meredith suspect in court

Rudy Hermann Guede was held after fare-dodging in Germany

A fourth person arrested in connection with the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Italy has appeared in court in Germany.

Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, will be held while extradition proceedings take place, the judge ruled.

Mr Guede was detained on Tuesday after travelling without a ticket on a train bound for Frankfurt.

One of three others being held over the murder, Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, has been released by Italian police.

Prosecutors in Koblenz, Germany, will now begin the formal extradition proceedings, and Mr Guede is expected to be sent to Italy in one week.

'Innocent'

Mr Guede had told the court he had not been involved in Miss Kercher's death, but would not fight his extradition, prosecutors' spokesman Karl-Rudolf Winkler said.

Italian detectives had launched a hunt for Mr Guede, who has dual Italian and Ivory Coast nationality, after identifying him as a suspect on Monday.

Officials said he was arrested in the western German city of Mainz by Interpol on an international warrant.

He faces charges over the murder and sexual assault on 1 November of Miss Kercher, 21, of Coulsdon, south London, who was found with her throat cut in the central Italian city of Perugia.

I would like to thank the German police very much because...they arrested the Ivorian man who was wanted in a savage murder in Perugia Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi

Miss Kercher's American roommate, Amanda Marie Knox, 20, and her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 23, are also being held.

They both deny any involvement, but under Italian law can be held for up to a year.

Mr Lumumba, 38, a Congolese bar owner, was released from prison in Rome on Tuesday, two weeks after he was remanded in custody by a judge.

His lawyers had earlier formally applied for his release on grounds of lack of evidence.

Italian news agency Ansa reported him saying: "I am happy to be going home. I thank God."

Ticket inspection

Meanwhile, Italian police had tracked down the fourth suspect in the case, Mr Guede, to Germany, believing he had left Perugia for Milan before leaving Italy.

Detectives had planned to arrest him as he crossed the border back into Italy, but a German ticket inspector detained him for fare-dodging.

Miss Kercher was found dead at her home in Perugia, Italy

Bloody fingerprints found on Miss Kercher's pillow and on toilet paper in her bathroom are reported to match those of Mr Guede.

Perugia police chief Arturo de Felice said Mr Guede would be deported to Italy as soon as possible.

On Tuesday Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi praised the German authorities involved.

"I would like to thank the German police very much because...they arrested the Ivorian man who was wanted in a savage murder in Perugia," he said.

No physical evidence

Mr Lumumba became a suspect based on Miss Knox's police interviews, according to court documents.

But the American was confused about the events because she had smoked cannabis before the killing, a judge said.

No physical evidence has emerged linking Mr Lumumba to the crime scene and witnesses have placed him at his bar on the night of the murder.

Police do not believe the murder was premeditated but they allege each of the suspects played a role.

Prosecutors believe Miss Kercher was killed after refusing to take part in an extreme sex game.