Murdered UK student's flatmate maintains innocence

ROME - An American student under arrest in Italy in connection with the murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher maintained her innocence on Friday before a judge deciding whether to keep her in jail.

Kercher, a 21-year-old exchange student from Leeds, was found dead in her bedroom in the university town of Perugia on November 2 with her throat cut.

Police believe Kercher died because she refused to have sex with one or more of her assailants.

The main suspects are 20-year-old Amanda Knox from the University of Washington, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, aged 24, and a man from the Ivory Coast who left for Germany straight after the killing.

"I am innocent, I was at Raffaele's house the whole time," Knox was quoted by Italian news agencies as telling the court.

Knox had initially said she was in the flat when Kercher was killed and covered her ears to block out the screams, then said she was with Sollecito, who also denies any wrongdoing.

Knox had first accused a Congolese man who runs a bar in Perugia of the killing. He has now been freed. Knox told the court she was sorry for implicating him.

The chief suspect is now a 20-year-old man who was arrested on a train in Germany 10 days ago.

Germany is delaying his extradition pending Italy's assurances that if found guilty and sentenced to life, his case will be reviewed after 20 years, as German law stipulates.

The case has resonated around Europe, where thousands of young people like Kercher study under the Erasmus exchange programme. Perugia is a choice destination for such students.

A decision on whether Knox and Sollecito should remain in custody was expected later on Friday.