Spanish police have re-arrested a former Guatemalan interior minister on charges of crimes against humanity and ordering the extrajudicial execution of 10 inmates.

Spanish police have re-arrested a former Guatemalan interior minister on charges of crimes against humanity and ordering the extrajudicial execution of 10 inmates.

Carlos Vielmann was arrested in October on similar charges but freed last month because Guatemalan authorities failed to request his extradition.

Spanish prosecutors asked for the latest arrest in Madrid on Thursday saying Vielmann can be tried as a Spaniard, as he also holds Spanish nationality.

Vielmann is one of several Guatemalans targeted by a United Nations-backed commission that is aiming to end criminal impunity in Guatemala and dismantle illegal security groups there.

He is linked to the summary executions of 10 inmates at two Guatemalan prisons between 2005 and 2006.