A Moroccan man arrested over the murder of two Scandinavian women tourists was a member of a militant group, according to the Moroccan prosecutor general’s office.

Another three suspects are being pursued over the killings, one of whom has a “court record linked to terrorist acts”, a police spokesman told AFP news agency.

"Radical Islam is not ruled out due to the profile of the suspect arrested and of the three men wanted," another official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The bodies of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland were found with cuts to their necks on Monday.

The women, from Denmark and Norway, had been camping at the foot of North Africa’s highest peak, Mount Toubkal, 10km (6 miles) from the mountain village of Imlil.

The area is popular with tourists and hikers, particularly from Scandinavia.