American police were last night close to making an arrest in the Chandra Levy murder case, one of Washington's most infamous cold cases.

Chandra Levy was a Washington intern who had an affair with a congressman. She disappeared in 2001.

Police told Levy's parents early yesterday that an arrest was imminent, according to the television station in San Francisco, California.

Media reports said police were planning to arrest Ingmar Guandique, an inmate in the District of Columbia prison system.

"We appreciate all the hard work they did," Susan Levy, Chandra's mother, told a Sacramento TV?station.

"You want justice. You want the person incarcerated. It is still painful no matter what. Your child is dead and gone. But we are glad the police are doing something and making a difference."

Levy (24) went missing on 30 April 2001. Her remains were found in May 2002 by a man walking his dog in a remote area of Washington's Rock Creek Park.

The search for Levy and massive publicity that accompanied it stemmed largely from her connection to California Democrat representative Gary Condit.

Condit and Levy, a federal Bureau of Prisons intern from Condit's district, had an affair and police questioned Condit many times in connection with the murder. Police never named Condit as a suspect.

Condit, a member of Congress since 1989, lost the 2002 Democratic primary and left office at the end of his term. He later reportedly moved to Arizona.

Guandique was mentioned in a Washington Post investigation into the murder published last year.

The newspaper quoted former investigators in the case who said Guandique was convicted of assaulting two other women in the park where Levy's body was found.

Guandique admitted seeing Levy in the park, the newspaper reported.