The inquiry into the killing of maverick Dutch right-winger Pim Fortuyn took a new twist Thursday when the girlfriend of the murder suspect was arrested on suspicion of involvement in bomb-making.
Petra Lievense is being held after searches of her home discovered chemicals and equipment which prosecutorsbelieve could have been used for arson or creating an explosion.
Ms Lievense's boyfriend, animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf, was arrested shortly after the fatal shooting of Mr Fortuyn in a car park at the media centre in Hilversum in May.
He has been on hunger strike for more than two months in protest at conditions in detention where he is under 24-hour surveillance, sparking a political debate over whether he should be force-fed if his health deteriorates.
Van der Graaf was involved in a radical environmental group which is thought to have been involved in direct actions in the Netherlands.
Ms Lievense is not suspected of involvement in the shooting of Mr Fortuyn but may be accused of planning a serious offence. Prosecutors have until today to file charges or release her.
The authorities say they took nearly four months to arrest Ms Lievense because they were waiting for results from forensic testing of materials collected at the home where the couple lived with their two-year-old daughter in the town of Harderwijk.
But Mr van der Graaf's lawyer argues that the arrest is designed to put psychological pressure on his client.
Mr Fortuyn, a flamboyant anti-immigration campaigner, was murdered shortly before elections which propelled his LPF party into the new coalition government.
