Italian police arrest al-Qaida suspect

Police in Italy have arrested a Kenyan-born arms and diamond dealer suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

The 36-year-old man was arrested in the north Italian city of Cremona near Milan on Friday afternoon, on charges of having a false Belgian passport.

Police said they found a number of incriminating documents in a subsequent search.

Belgian police arrested the man in February, charging him with criminal association and using a false passport, but he was later released on bail and fled the country.

He is now being held in Cremona prison. He had been staying for the previous three days in a hotel in the city.

The man was accompanied by a British woman when he was arrested in the street.