Equatorial Guinea's ambassador to US 'suspect in beating of girl'

Equatorial Guinea's ambassador to the US is suspected of beating a girl with a wooden chair leg but will not be arrested because he has diplomatic immunity, officials say.

Police in Arlington, near Washington DC, were called to Ambassador Ruben Maye Nsue Mangue's residence on Monday.

Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said they found a juvenile with a large cut to her head and other injuries.

"We determined the ambassador was the primary suspect," he said.

Mr Sternbeck said the girl had sustained a "significant laceration" to her head, bruises and a swollen eye and was taken to Virginia Hospital Center.

He said she had been beaten with the wooden leg of a chair.

Mr Sternbeck added that police officers, who do not have jurisdiction in cases involving diplomats, did not make any arrests and informed the US state department.

A state department official said the agency was in contact with local authorities but could not discuss the incident further.

The girl was widely reported to be the ambassador's teenage daughter. On Wednesday, a woman at the residence told the Associated Press news agency by telephone that the ambassador's daughter was fine and was in good spirits.

The embassy of Equatorial Guinea - a Central African country with a population of about 740,000 people - has not commented on the incident.

Mr Sternbeck said Arlington police had been called to the same residence over a domestic incident in December 2013 but due to diplomatic immunity no-one was detained or charged.