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A 27-year-old man believed to be a British national has been arrested in Portugal after allegedly stabbing another British man to death and "desecrating" the corpse.

Police said the suspect was detained in the central town of Soalheira, where he had been the organiser of a party.

The 37-year-old victim had been taken to a secluded area and attacked with "unusual violence", they said.

The two men are not thought to have known each other personally.

Early local media reports said the stabbing followed an argument during some kind of game, but police said there seemed to be "no connection with online games or challenges".

They added that the actual motive was not yet clear.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Judiciary Police, the national agency dealing with Portugal's most serious crimes, said the suspect was a "foreigner who was organising a party on a rural property".

"The defendant... took the victim to a secluded spot in the forest where, armed with a knife, he attacked him with unusual violence, hitting him in various parts of the body and causing his death," it said.

"After committing the murder, the suspect hid the corpse using tree branches and pieces of clothing."

The statement said the man confessed the killing to other partygoers and that after "confirming that it was true", they went with the suspect to police in the nearby municipality of Pedrógão Grande to report what had happened.

The victim was described by police as a foreign national but identified by local media as British. He is believed to have travelled to Portugal in order to attend the event.

Police said the detainee had been brought before a court for questioning and then remanded in custody.