The body of a young British woman murdered in Qatar at the weekend was “burned beyond recognition” when found dumped in the desert.

Details emerged yesterday after police in Qatar confirmed that they had made arrests in their search for the killers of Lauren Patterson, a 24-year-old primary school teacher murdered in the Gulf state on Sunday.

Friends of the Briton, from Chislehurst, Kent, have told the Doha News that the authorities are to carry out DNA testing on Ms Patterson’s body.

Inquiries at the mortuary in the Qatari capital where the body is being held revealed that it was too badly burned to make a visual identification.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the killing, although the Qatari authorities have declined to