Morocco arrests three more suspects in killing of Scandinavian women

FILE PHOTO: A mountaineer looks for Toubkal valley at the Atlas region near Imlil October 30, 2009. Toubkal peak, the highest point in North Africa at 4,167m (13,671 feet), is visited by thousands of mountaineers throughout the year. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante/File Photo

RABAT (Reuters) - Police in Morocco have arrested three more suspects in the killing of two female tourists, one from Norway and one from Denmark, in the Atlas Mountains, a spokesman said on Thursday.

A day earlier the Moroccan authorities said they were seeking three more suspects after one man was arrested in Marrakech. The general prosecutor said the man in custody was a member of a militant group, but did not name the organisation.

The bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were found on Monday in an isolated area near Imlil, on the way to Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak and a popular hiking destination. [nL8N1YO6LNl

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Ulf Laessing and Raissa Kasolowsky)