By Panos Polyzoidis BBC's Athens correspondent

Police in Greece have announced that they have arrested a woman in relation to the November 17 left-wing urban guerrilla group, which is held responsible for 23 killings in the past 27 years.

Koufodinas surprisingly turned himself up to the authorities

The woman, Angeliki Sotiropoulou, was detained on Thursday afternoon at her lawyer's office in central Athens.

Police sources say the warrant for her arrest was issued after her fingerprints were found in one of the flats the group had been using as a hideout, and they believe she had been a member of the illegal organisation.

She is the first woman and the 17th person to be detained since late June, when a man was injured by a bombing device he was allegedly carrying.

The Greek media quote police as saying more women could be arrested soon.

Lawyers' complaints

Ms Sotiropoulou had been under the authorities' close scrutiny after what appears to have been a foiled bomb attack in the port of Piraeus.

She is the former wife of the alleged bomber and the current girlfriend of Dimitris Koufodinas, the man whom the authorities consider the key person in November 17's structure and operations.

Mr Koufodinas, who had been on the run for two months, surprised Greek public opinion last week, when he turned up at police headquarters and turned himself in.

A group of lawyers representing alleged November 17 members already in detention have lodged an official complaint with the Athens Barristers Association.

The lawyers say they are not allowed by the prison authorities to communicate properly with their clients.

The Greek Justice Minister, Filippos Petsalnikos, has said November 17 suspects are treated in exactly the same way as other inmates.

November 17, named after the date of a violent Athens student uprising against the military junta in 1973, emerged in 1975 with the murder of Athens CIA chief Richard Welch.