France Arrests Italian Far-Left Militant

French police have arrested a former member of the far-left Italian Red Brigades.

 French police have arrested a former member of the far-left Italian Red Brigades on the run after convictions for murder and kidnapping, the French Justice Ministry said on Wednesday.

Marina Petrella was arrested on Tuesday following a request by Italy and is being held pending examination of an extradition request by a court in Versailles, near Paris.

She was convicted by an Italian court in May 1993 of a number of offences including the murder of a police officer, kidnapping, attempted kidnapping and armed robbery.

The arrest follows controversy earlier this year over France's role in the arrest of another fugitive Italian radical, Cesare Battisti, who was detained in Brazil with the help of French police.

The ministry said the case was being treated like any other extradition request.

"It will be up to the Versailles court of appeal to decide on the juridical validity of the evidence presented by the Italian justice authorities," the ministry said in a statement.

The Red Brigades gained notoriety in the 1970s with a campaign of violence that culminated in the kidnapping and murder of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978.

Numerous former members took refuge in France where former President Francois Mitterrand refused to extradite left-wing radicals who renounced violence.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi thanked French authorities for the arrest, which he said showed the importance of international cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism.

"We are confident that the extradition request put forward over the years will be satisfied soon," Prodi said in a statement.