Newspaper editor questioned by Mauritius police about Michaela pictures

Detectives in Mauritius are tonight questioning the boss of a newspaper at a centre of the Michaela McAreavey photographs controversy.

Imran Hosany, the editor and director of the Mauritius Sunday Times, was detained at his home in Port Louis and taken to Line Barracks police headquarters.

Computers seized at the newspaper offices are also being examined in a bid to find out who provided the newspaper with photographs taken of the murdered bride after she was found strangled in her hotel room and published last weekend.

Hosany had earlier apologised for the images appearing on his pages and indicated he would cooperate with any police inquiry. He stopped short of agreeing to identify the source.

But after the political pressure in Ireland, and the anger of the McAreavey and Harte families, police on the island decided to arrest him. He was detained at his house at 7.30am.

Tonight, police in Port Luis confirmed he was still being held, but it is unclear if he will face charges.

Following the police investigation and the acquittal of the two men accused of murdering Michaela while she was on honeymoon with her husband John McAreavey at the Legends Hotel in January last year, detectives are under pressure to identify who passed the photographs to the newspaper.

The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam, said he would invite officers from the PSNI and Gardaí to assist police still involved in the inquiry into the murder of Michaela, 27, the daughter of the Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness is due to meet with the Mauritian high commissioner in London tomorrow.

Tonight the chief prosecutor in the case, Mehdi Manrakham, confirmed the case is still under review.

He said: "Just because the trial has ended, does not mean we are going to stop and forget. We cannot comment at the moment, but we are going to explore every avenue."