Updated

An Egyptian security official says authorities in the southern city of Luxor have arrested a man accused of raping a British citizen in a banana plantation days earlier.

The official says the 35-year old suspect was arrested on Saturday in Qurna, west of the ancient city of Luxor. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to reporters, said the suspect confessed.

The British citizen told police last week that the suspect had first verbally harassed her as she walked to the nearby market in Qurna. On her way back, the suspect dragged her into a banana plantation and raped her under the threat of a knife, the official said.

Egypt's government has vowed to combat rising sexual violence.