Police question new Falconio suspect

Police investigating the disappearance of British tourist Peter Falconio, believed murdered in the Australian outback last July, today confirmed that a man is being questioned in connection with the presumed abduction.

A spokeswoman for police in Alice Springs said a man "of interest" to them had been apprehended in New South Wales but would not give further details. Sydney police confirmed that they were assisting Northern Territory detectives.

A police source said the man had been detained on an unrelated matter but was also being questioned about the missing Briton.

It is understood that his DNA will be sent to Alice Springs for comparison with blood found at the scene of the crime, 200 miles from Alice Springs.

Mr Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees stopped on the remote Stuart Highway north of Alice Springs when a man in a truck signalled that sparks were coming from their camper van. When Mr Falconio got out to investigate his girlfriend reported hearing a shot.

She never saw him again. Ms Lees, who was bound by her attacker, managed to escape and hide in the bush for about five hours before flagging down a passing lorry.

It has become one of Australia's most gripping criminal mysteries, partly because of the absence of a body but also because of perceived gaps in Ms Lees's story.

Aboriginal trackers were unable to find any traces of her attacker or his dog.

Northern Territory police also came in for criticism over a delay in releasing surveillance footage of a man who fitted Ms Lees's description of the attacker.

Mr Falconio, who graduated from Sussex University in building and construction management, first met Ms Lees, a travel agent, in Brighton.

Ms Lees, 27, set off a massive manhunt after telling Australian police how the killer had pulled the couple over before shooting Mr Falconio, 28, and then abducting her.

A year later, police are no closer to finding the suspect, despite a reward of £100,000. Although she said she hoped to stay on until Mr Falconio was found, Ms Lees, who claimed that police originally treated her story as a hoax, eventually returned to Britain.

Fourteen officers are still working on the case and police said they were confident of success.