Ankara - Police in Turkey on Thursday arrested and charged a man they believe was the alleged mastermind behind the 2007 torture- murders of three Christian missionaries in the city of Malatya, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Varol Bulent Aral was taken into custody early Thursday morning and was later charged at a court in Malatya with "leading a terrorist organization" and "organizing the murder of more than one person."

Some of the seven people already on trial for the murders have given evidence that Aral was behind the murders. Anadolu reported that Aral on Thursday denied the charges.

In April 2007, five of the men on trial went to the offices of a Christian publishing house on the pretext of discussing Christianity. The five then tied up German missionary Tilmann Geske and Turkish converts Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, tortured them for a number of hours and then slit their throats.

The five were all arrested at the scene of the crime and face life imprisonment if found guilty. The other two men currently on trial have been charged with aiding the murderers. (dpa)